Four years after deluge, little hope of action

MUMBAI: Kishore Hawaldar was stranded outside Kalina's Air India colony on July 26, 2005 when large parts of the suburbs were flooded. The water hadn't receded the next day so he swam to his first-floor flat where his wife and daughter were panicking. On Thursday, Hawaldar (36) came all the way from Bangalore, where he works, to cast his vote. His booth was in Air India colony itself.
Havaldar hopes his vote will help elect a government that will combat terrorism as well as recession.On the local level, he expects the government to reduce power bills and solve traffic problems. Hawaldar said the government machinery was of little help during the flood and feels the state government has not done enough to guard against a repeat of 26/7. "They failed to implement a ban on thin plastic, which was one of the main culprits,'' he said. However, it took Hawaldar four hours to persuade his wife to vote.
Going by the turnout in the booths at Kalina even by 4 pm, 26/7 seems to be a distant memory. The longest queue was of five persons. Not everyone has forgotten 26/7 though. Another Kalina resident Joleen Farrao had to spend the night at a friend's place. Their ground floor flat was submerged and her father was rescued by neighbours just in time. The 25-year-old Farrao, who now works for an NGO that deals with environment, voted for the first time on Thursday.
"I decided to exercise my right to vote and bring someone more responsible to power rather than merely crib about government apathy,'' she said.