Heavy rains force 22 children from flooded Badlapur ashram to take shelter in temple

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Twenty-two children of Satkarma Ashram, a home for underprivileged children in Sonivali village in Maharashtra’s Badlapur have been forced to seek shelter in the nearby Gajanan Maharaj temple after the ashram was flooded following the downpour since July 26. They lost most of their clothes, books and toys to the floodwaters.

Around 11pm on July 26, the children had to abandon the ashram, wading through knee-deep water in search of shelter. By July 27, the rising water level had submerged the entire ashram where the children used to live, play and study.

“It was a scary night. We were asleep when we were suddenly asked to move out of the ashram. We did not even take anything while leaving,” said one of the children.

Since then, the children have not attended school as they do not have books or clothes. “We got a lot of help from locals and social groups in terms of food and clothes,” said Rajendra Deshpande, member of the ashram.

On Tuesday, a group of youths from the village cleared out wet books, toys and clothes from the ashram and are attempting to remove the accumulated mud.

The children, aged between six and 12 years, are sent to the ashram by the women and child welfare department of the Maharashtra state government.

They are either orphans or have single, working parents.