Patna University teachers rue loss of rare books

PATNA: Even as accumulated rainwater has receded from most parts of the city, it has left a trail of massive devastations all around. Each family residing in the ground floor flat or house at Rajendra Nagar, Kankerbagh, Pataliputra Colony and other waterlogged localities is understood to have suffered a minimum financial loss of Rs5 to 10 lakh besides passing through untold mental agony and physical harassment.

Many Patna University (PU) teachers residing in these localities are still in trauma as they had never imagined such an ordeal at the fag end of the monsoon. While those who were compelled to leave their residences for some safer places and have come back are struggling with the damaged infrastructure in a stinking environment and striving hard to settle.

PU statistics department former head Amarendra Mishra, a resident of Road No. 6 at Rajendra Nagar, said his car, fridge, washing machine, TV, wooden furniture and priceless collection of books, journals and photos were destroyed as they remained submerged in water for more than 10 days. Water entered his house in September 28 morning and it was drained out on October 7, he said. Mishra said he is doing overtime to get his house cleaned and to make it habitable.

Patna Science College environmental science department head Shardendu, who resides in university quarters at Saidpur complex, said he was rescued from his submerged house on October 1 after remaining in a state of shock for three days in absence of electricity and potable water. He said the problem was more acute this time due to the construction of a boundary wall around the Saidpur complex recently. Water accumulated inside the complex could not find its way out for a pretty long time, he said.

Retired PU political science department teacher Bachoo Sinha shifted to his relative’s house in Chhajjubagh along with his family on September 28 morning when water entered his house at Road No. 6. All his furniture and other household items have been damaged, said Sinha’s son Vinayak Yashraj, a NIFT Patna faculty member.

It took almost a fortnight for the accumulated water to come out of PU zoology department’s former head Akhauri Bhuvan Prasad Sinha at Pataliputra Colony. All the wooden furniture and other articles got destroyed, said his son Bishwapriya, who is director of Geological Survey of India.

Patna Science College physics department’s retired teacher Anil Verma, who resides at Rajendra Nagar Road No. 12, said even though roads are being cleaned by Patna Municipal Corporation staff, dirty water was still stagnant at various places inside the apartments. Bleaching powder is not being sprayed properly and fogging is done only occasionally, Verma said.