Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
The youths set sail in a dinghy that capsized in Bhoshkhora lake near Panchgaon
By Dheeraj FartodeThe craze for selfie pushed a group of youth beyond point of no return, as seven youth from Ashirwad Nagar locality of city drowned in a lake at Wadadh village on Nagpur-Umrer road on Sunday evening. The weekend tragedy should be an eye opener for GenNext, as about 11 of them were on board when it capsized drowning seven. The question is as to why none of the youth could imagine the lurking danger when they enmass boarded the dinghy boat to set sail for the 'fateful' selfie. The youth hailed from Ashirwad Nagar off Manewada Ring Road.
The tragedy occurred at Mangrud lake, about 10 kms from Panchgaon, said Superintendent of Police Dr Aarti Singh while confirming the incident. She further said it's going to take time for fishing out the bodies owing to darkness and remote location of the lake.
In fact, police had a tough time keeping next of kin at the lake as they simply refusing to buy logic and want immediate retrieval of bodies. However police are handicapped by lack of lighting arrangement at the lake. Hundreds of villagers too gathered at the spot prompting police to deeply reinforcements for keeping things under control, it was learnt.
According to information, a group of around 11 youths had gone for a picnic at the lake. After taking bath in the village, the youths went to a Dargah, situated near the lake and prayed. The group again returned to lake for capturing joyous moments in their mobiles.
One of them noticed a boat on the bank of lake and bright minds immediately thoughts of a selfie in middle of lake. Without giving even a second of thought the youth jumped onto the dinghy boat and set sail on an dangerous adventure. By that time it was already getting dark but the pumped-up adrenaline failed to think of dangers.
The dinghy reached the middle of lake and the youth began clicking feverishly and suddenly all 11 youths came on one side to get into frame. And the fate played its hand and before the youth could imagine their weight led to disproportionate balance and the dinghy tilted. In a suddenly splash all the eleven were thrown off in the lake and the panic now set in.
The youths started yelling and shouting for the help. But there was no response as the area was isolated. One of the youth managed to save himself by quickly climbing back on the boat. Another one who knew swimming caught hold of one of his friend and swam to safety of lake's bank. But for others it was a self made disaster as they simply drowned as the lake was full of silt.
The survivor youth quickly gathered and dialled for help. Staff of Nagpur Rural Police and Fire and Rescue Department rushed to the spot late in the evening. The shortcomings of the district disaster management cell was out in open after this tragedy.
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