A senior citizen from Vile Parle and her daughter, who have been living in filthy, rat-infested squalor for almost 10 years now, were finally able to see the floor of their house thanks to an NGO
The filthy kitchen of the Acharyas
A senior citizen from Vile Parle and her daughter, who have been living in filthy, rat-infested squalor for almost 10 years now, were finally able to see the floor of their house thanks to an NGO. The happiest, of course, are their neighbours.
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Twelve volunteers from Jeevan Anand Sanstha visited 75-year-old Sharvari Acharya's 1BHK-flat in Sarswati building at Irla Lane on September 16 and scrubbed the house from top to bottom. They said the house was so filthy that it would take a few more trips to get it completely clean. While cleaning the house, the volunteers pulled out kilos and kilos of waste and also killed more than 50 rats.
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The clean-up operation in progress
Stopped cleaning 10 years ago
Acharya and her daughter Shubhanana, 42, live on the third floor of the building. The two slipped into depression following the death of Shubhana's father 10 years ago and began to seek the 'companionship' of rats. They even stopped cleaning the house to encourage the rats to breed in the flat.
'Counselled the duo'
After reading mid-day report on the issue in its Sept 1 edition, volunteers from of Jeevan Anand Sanstha contacted Sarswati society. They counselled the duo and offered help to clean the house. "They were reluctant at first, mumbling about liking the rats, but they agreed to let us help them," said Rahul Kamble, a volunteer. "On September 16, we started cleaning at 9 am and it went on till 6 pm. We cleaned the hall, bedroom and kitchen and for us, this was a unique experience as we had never seen such a filthy house."
The trash being burnt
Volunteers later burnt all the waste in the building compound. They also killed 56 rats. "After I read the report in mid-day, I contacted the society members and offered help. All the residents supported us. We are trying to convince the mother and daughter to see counsellors," said Sandeep Parab, secretary, Jeevan Anand Sanstha. "We could also get them admitted to an old age home for proper treatment," Parab said.
A neighbour said, "We can see that the clean-up drive has had a positive effect on the Acharyas. They agreed to sell their refrigerator and washing machine, and while it was being taken out, 50-60 rats fell out of these appliances."
The rats the NGO found and killed
Tushar Samant, committee member and resident of Saraswati Society, said, "The rat menace has considerably lowered in my home. If they clean the house at least twice, it will change the scenario. We are truly grateful to mid-day who reported on the menace, and to the Sanstha, who took up this task of cleaning the house. We have got our lives back."
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