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Vashi2Panvel.com: Navi Mumbai: Aug 18: Business is one acumen that lets you smell out profits even through the grimmest of all situations. 26/7 has become an unforgettable date. Though the water logging didn’t result in as much tragedy in this twin city, the flood and the aftermath has been disastrous. But, some businesses in the city prospered. The V2P team visited a few big and small businesses to find out how the flood had helped their business.

Tour New Panvel city and you will see the array of cars and other vehicles lined against garages here. All of them have a similar story to tell. Ask a garage-wala to repair your car and he gives you an appointment after 45 days. That shows the business is definitely booming. “My business has grown manifolds since the floods. We are literally slogging as there are around hundred cars lined up as against 15 to 20 in the previous months. The growth rate, I believe, is almost 100%,” beams Santosh of Ideal Automobiles, New Panvel. So how much do they earn per car? “There is no fixed rate. If we put in some electronic device like dynamo which is expensive the rate can go as high as 15,000. If it’s a simple water-logging problem then it can cost the customer a minimum of 5000 bucks,” replies Prakash of Prakash Automobiles, Panvel. Meanwhile, those who earlier travelled by their own vehicles are using public transport.

“Abhi rickshaw-public bahut hai,” informs Raju, an auto-driver.

Electronic goods repair shops are also having a boom time now. “Due to the floods, many electronic items like iron, tape-recorders, microwave oven, fridge, watches, etc had got spoilt. So, now we have scores of these items for repair. It’s high-profit time for us,” chuckles Sanjay Lal of New India Electronics goods repair.

With water entering shops and houses, the furniture doors, and window frames of many ground floor homes begun rotting. Says Shivdas Yadav, a carpenter from Kopra near Kharghar, “My work has almost doubled now. I have had to say no to small jobs like fixing doors and putting glass panes. There is more demand for furniture now.” In Old Panvel where lot of houses were destroyed, the furniture shops and carpenters are having a windfall. From adjoining areas of Raigad, people are hiring carpenters to work for them. Nimesh Patil another carpenter from Panvel, says, “There is lot of work in shops here now. There is great demand for skilled people like us and our rates have also gone up. Like for a small task like repairing a window pane I used to charge only 35 rupees now I take Rs.50. Usme kya hai? Jab log dene ko taiyar hai to mala kay!”

Another business that is flourishing in interiors of New Panvel and Old Panvel is that of masonry. Contractors are being hired to build ruined walls and raise the level of floors in shops. But even the labour charges have increased. Raju a mason in Raigad District says, “I am now getting jobs in Panvel. Since I double up as a contractor and a mason, I am making more money these days. Even the people I hire for big jobs want more wages. Now that there is so much competition and lot of work, I am willing to pay them.”

At Old Panvel there is a congregation of labourers every day in the morning that keeps waiting for contactors to pick them up for work. It doesn’t happen these days. Says rickshaw driver Suniel Atre, “These people stand here everyday but since the floods as soon as a small group assembles they are whisked away by a contractor. They have lot of work these days I think.”

And finally, with Navi Mumbai being crippled by a water shortage, the moneymakers turned out to be general and medical stores selling mineral water. Says owner of Paramount Medicals in Vashi, “Due to water shortage in that one week there was a tremendous demand for mineral water. We sold out completely and could meet the demand only after 3 days, as there was no supply coming to us. We made quite a hefty amount by selling water.” A pharmacist Madhu Bore, in Nerul agrees, “I usually don’t get many people buying water, but that one week there was a very large demand of mineral water. People wanted the big 25 litres can not just 1 or 2 litre bottles.”

In fact, Supreme Medical and General store of New Panvel, is still facing demand for mineral water. Even as we talk, a delivery van of Aquafina water cans arrives. The owner says, “Even now people are afraid to drink the water that comes at their homes. They are taking no risk of getting water borne diseases.”

Till normalcy reigns, the businessman in Navi Mumbaikar is raking it in.

Lakshmi Subramanian and Swati Pandey

Pics: Anusha Pandey