Chiplun, Maharashtra, India – Since July 22, strong monsoon rains in Maharashtra in western India have caused floods, and at least 209 people have been confirmed dead.

Ratnagiri and Raigad, two coastal areas in the Kankan region of the state, were the hardest hit. 130 people died from floods and landslides.

Chiplun of Ratnagiri and Mahad of Raigad were the first to bear the brunt of the disaster, forcing Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to visit these two towns on Sunday.

“We stand with you to make sure you stand up again,” CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray assured, while comforting the traders and shopkeepers of Chiplun Market. pic.twitter.com/rr6Mnn08Aq

— Chief Marketing Officer Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) July 25, 2021

The floods are reminiscent of a similar disaster that hit the region in 2005 and killed more than 1,000 people, including nearly 500 deaths in Mumbai, the financial capital of India.

But the residents of Chiplun, who live with about 150,000 people, said that this year’s tragedy was even more serious.

“The floods in 2021 are 10 times the floods in 2005,” Vrunda Gandhi, 58, from the Chiprumpas Map area, told Al Jazeera.

Chiplun is located at the foot of the Sayadri Mountains in the Kankan region, and the town is surrounded by the Wassisi and Shiv rivers on both sides.

The Arabian Sea is only 25 kilometers (15 miles) away from the hotel, which makes it easy for the area to also flow into the river’s tributaries.

In addition, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) of excess water from Koyna Dam, one of the largest in Maharashtra, reached the reservoir near Chiplun and mixed with the Vashishthi River.

Therefore, if there is too much rain during the monsoon, the town will suffocate from all directions.

Pravin Pawar, a senior government official in Chiplun, told Al Jazeera that the area received 450 mm (17.7 inches) of rainfall in a single day on July 22. In contrast, the capital New Delhi has the highest single-day rainfall. The past 15 years is 144 mm (5.7 inches) in 2016.

How did the flood begin

On the night of July 21, in the downpour, the Chilun people fell asleep. At around 3 am the next day, WhatsApp messages began to alert people to the rising water levels in coastal towns.

One of the flooded houses in Chilun Town [Abdulkadir Mukadam/Al Jazeera]

Vaibhav Chavan, 42, said that he started issuing warnings to the local municipal office around 1:30 in the morning. He claimed that no measures were taken to alert the sleeping residents.

“By 5 in the morning, water started to seep into people’s houses. Until then some people started to wake up to find 5-6 feet [1.5-1.8 metres] The water outside their home,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The situation has become chaotic… By the morning, it was almost 13-15 feet [4-4.6 metres] People are trapped in their homes due to flooding. “

In this case, India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is usually assigned to rescue people from flooded areas.

However, residents said that after more than 24 hours of flooding, NDRF did not reach Chilun, and the local police were unable to carry out any rescue operations due to lack of tools.

“We have been waiting for any help from the government, but this has not happened. The local boy helped my family get to a safe place,” said Gandhi, whose house is on the first floor.

Pawar told Al Jazeera that the current was so strong that rescue operations could not be carried out because “the vessel was turning due to the current.”

For a whole day, the situation was not clear because the rising water level did not allow anyone to enter the town.

Destruction of the Muradpur area of ??Chiplun [Abdulkadir Mukadam/Al Jazeera]

According to the report, at least eight COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in a private hospital in Chiplun died because of a power outage and turned off the oxygen generator, and there was no diesel available to turn on the generator.

Allegedly, medical staff at the hospital fled the scene because they were afraid of being attacked by relatives of the dead patient.

As water continued to flood the town, residents spent the night in fear, and some local volunteers were helping the community.

Raju Vikhare, 53, said that saving the lives of him and his family has become his only priority.

“We thought we were going to die. When I took my family to the neighbor’s two-story house, the water had reached my neck. When I started to go back, I realized that I could not climb to the top of the house because I could easily It slipped from the roof and fell directly into the flood,” he told Al Jazeera.

Residents said that the NDRF team finally arrived at around 8 am on July 23, nearly 26 hours before the flood.

As Chiplun was at the feet of Sahyadri, the water flowed downhill. So when the NDRF team arrived, the flood had already dropped.

But the devastating flood left a pile of uncleaned mud a week after the disaster, destroyed dozens of houses and businesses, and made nearly 1,000 people homeless in Chilun.

The electronic store owned by the Takale family was destroyed [Zeeshan K/Al Jazeera]

Sahil Takale, who owns an electronics store in the town, estimated his loss to be $235,000.

“I lost six warehouses and a large showroom full of electronic products. We tried to walk in the flood, trying to save some [sections] Our shop, but it’s not possible at all,” he said.

Takale said that his company’s insurance can save a certain percentage of losses. “We are fine, but there are many small businessmen in the city who do not buy insurance. Only God knows how they will get out of this tragedy.”

The entire Red Wheel Bazaar was as if there were no roads, and the entire surface was stained brown with soil.

‘Man-made disaster’

Residents said that the flooding in Chiplun was exacerbated by the release of millions of gallons of water from the Koina Dam.

“We know that the dam needs to be discharged, but at least let us realize that we shouldn’t surprise us like this in the middle of the night,” local politician Faisal Kaskar told Al Jazeera.

But experts find it hard to believe that only water released from the dam can cause this level of damage.

Pankaji Darvi, founder and environmentalist of the Kangkang Alert NGO, said that “unparalleled deforestation” and lack of urban planning measures are the main reasons for “man-made disasters.”

“A lot of earthwork and tree felling were carried out for the new Mumbai-Goa National Highway and Pune-Bijapur National Highway. Deforestation caused water bodies to change course and seep into the city,” Darvi told Al Jazeera.

Dalwi said that Chiplun used to be a wetland area, but in the past 10-15 years, residential communities have been built on these lands.

“Chiplun did not follow any urban policy guidelines and ignored the environmental impact of these wetland constructions,” he said.

Pawar agrees with these statements. “We must accept it. It is caused by climate change.”