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Lord Ganesha emerges from Maharashtra flood waters
by Sameer Desai

     Pen/Naugarh (Maharashtra): In anticipation of the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, idol-makers of Maharashtra have started making idols that were damaged or washed away by last week's floods. The Artisans of Maharashtra's Pen village supply at least 10,000 idols for the festival, which is celebrated with full fanfare in the State annually. But this year, artisans say they have lost at least 60 per cent of their earnings because of the supply of the floods. "We have started the work again because we have to complete the orders in time. But the government should help us because we don't even have money to pay to our workers," said Kushan Hazare, an idol-maker. Artisans say that the idol-making industry usually earns a prolific 10 crore rupees, but this year, the unprecedented flooding has dashed their hopes of making a pile. "The idol-makers have lost orders worth at least 4 to 5 million rupees (92,000 to 1,15,000 dollars) and that's because the idols were kept in factories which got flooded. The rates will not increase. We will complete the orders at same amount as fixed," says Dinesh Potpore, another idol-maker. These artisans begin preparing for the festival, to be held on September 7, ten months in advance.

     Meanwhile, fishermen in the Maharashtra's coastal Naugarh District are anticipating heavy losses as the monsoons have caused irreparable damage to their boats and fishing nets. Fishermen say they are still eager to go out to sea, but they have been forced to sit idle and wait for the weather to improve. The fishermen say that around 2,000 trawlers were docked at the time of last week's high tide. The fishermen complain of not having received any help from the Government so far. "We have not received any help from the Government. Till now, we have only got a handful of rice. No one from the Government has even visited us," claimed Janardan Koli, a fisherman. At least a thousand people have either drowned, died in landslides or were electrocuted during the floods in Maharashtra.
-Aug 7, 2005