August 2017 will be remembered for a long time. Immortalised in this month are the neglected children of Gorakhpur, the corpses of the Utkal Express derailment tragedy, and lakhs of dreams that have been swept away in the floods.
Let’s take a look at the casualties of 2017’s ‘Deadly August.’
Floods in Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Assam
The month began with several lives being washed away in the Bihar floods. This is not the first year that the state has been inundated by floods. Year after year, it is paralysed by floods, the lives lost make headlines for a few days only to be forgotten until the same happens the following year. Until 30 August this year, the death toll from the floods in Bihar stood at 514.
Here are the numbers from the flood damage this year:
- 1.5 crore people have been affected in 19 districts of Bihar.
- 27 lakh people affected in eastern Uttar Pradesh, 103 lives lost so far.
- 152 people die in 11 districts in West Bengal.
Mumbai Deluge
The unprecedented rainfall on 29 August put life in the maximum city in disarray. At least 10 people died in Mumbai and the neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar, as the city flooded and people found themselves stranded for hours. A few fell into open manholes, one man died when a wall caved in.
Two days after the 29 August deluge, on 31 August, a three-storey building collapsed in south Mumbai’s Bhendi Bazaar, killing at least 22 people.
Incidentally, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert about the heavy rainfall a day before the deluge. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra government, however, failed to act on time.
Himachal’s Deadly Landslides
Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district witnessed one of the worst landslides in August. More than 150 metres of the road caved in. Several houses, two buses, and other cars were buried in the debris. A total of 46 people were reportedly killed.
A Series of Train Derailments
This month saw more than one train derailment. The Utkal Express, the Kaifiyat Express, followed by two more train derailments, stacked up an appalling number of such incidents.
At least 23 people have died in the train derailments, while hundreds more were injured. Probes to ascertain the cause of the derailment and efforts to provide the affected families with compensation are still on.
The Neglected Children of Gorakhpur
Uttar Pradesh's Baba Raghav Das Medical College has been in the headlines this month for the most heartbreaking reason. Sixty children died in this hospital between 7 August and 11 August. It is reported that several of these lives could have been saved were it not for shortage of oxygen.
Many of these children died of encephalitis. The investigation is still on. Meanwhile, BRD Medical College's principal was asked to resign.
If this was shocking, the month had more to offer. On 29 August, it was reported that within 48 hours, 42 children died in this hospital.
A look at Gorakhpur’s painful numbers from 'DeadlyAugust':
- 296 children have died at the BRD Medical College.
- 213 children died in the NICU, and 83 died in the encephalitis ward.
- From January till August 2017, 1,256 children have died.
Reacting to these deaths, the Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh simply said “August mein mauthein hoti hai (deaths occur often in the month of August).”
Let's only hope the country never has to witness a ‘Deadly August’ like this again.
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(This story was first published on QuintHindi. It has been translated by Suhasini Krishnan.)
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