Kolhapur: First trucker on highway recalls six anxious days

KOLHAPUR: It was past midnight on August 7 when a policeman asked Dhanesh Sahu (41) to halt his truck near Nagaon phata on the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway. A kilometer away at Sangli phata, the Panchaganga waters had taken over the highway.

On Monday, when the flood finally receded, the police and administration decide to allow heavy vehicles to move towards Bengaluru and Sahu was the first to go.After spending six days in his truck, Sahu couldn’t thank the locals and police enought for helping them tide over the crisis.
Sahu had left from Vasai in Thane district on August 6 afternoon. He finished his dinner at a dabha near Karad and was headed to Bengaluru when he was stopped in the tracks.
in noon. He had his dinner at a ‘Dhaba’ before Karad and proceeded further till he got himself stuck near Nagaon phata, one kilometre before the Sangli phata pass submerged in the water. Excerpts from his personal experience:
“Police told me to park the truck in a lane towards the left. I had not idea what was happening. I thought some serious accident had happened ahead and would have to wait for a few hours before being allowed to go ahead. When I walked ahead to see what was happening, I could not believe my eyes,” Sahu told TOI.
“A policeman was standing in waist deep water and waving everyone back. The sound of the water was such that I will never forget. It was scary. When I started getting calls from home in the morning, I realised the severity of the calamity,” he said.
Sahu thought of turning back but the traffic was not moving on the other side as well. He had little option but to stay put. With the machinery under his care and no companion, Sahu couldn’t leave the truck. On August 7, he managed to find a small dabha nearby that was still serving food. Then, even that place downed its shutters.
“Thankfully, the next day onwards, people started arriving with food packets and biscuit. Some people came in boats and gave us water bottles. In these seven days, I experienced a lot of humanity and I will always remember this experience. Kolhapuri people, despite the hardships they were facing, helped me survive these six days,” he said.