I’m down, but not out, says a distraught Narang

The heavy downpour inundated his academy at Trimulgherry damaging imported equipments worth Rs 1.3 crore

Hyderabad: As he came down after inspecting the damage caused to the nearly 90 brand new Germany-made ‘Walther rifles’ and Italian-made ‘Carbini pistols’ that were kept in a temporary room of the first floor, a distraught Gagan Narang paused, and said, “see how dry this area is but at 11 pm on Tuesday night, the floodwaters had reached about four feet and it was gushing with the current. We could not open the shutter because of the force that was stirred up by the water. By the time we went in it was all over and there was no time to retrieve anything. From a mere two feet, it rose to eight feet in the cellar area.

“The equipment and targets boxes were just floating in the water. The immediate danger is that equipment could get rusted. I actually brought all these equipment for the academy at the Hyderabad Central University shooting range in Gachibowli. Each Walther Rifle and Carbine Pistol cost Rs 2 lakh and one lakh each,’’ said the London Olympic 10m air-rifle bronze medallist, two days after the rain devastated his Gun For Glory Academy at Trimulgherry.

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It was one of the four branches in the city. “I don’t think I can operate it here anymore. It is a huge loss,’’ he said about the Trimulgherry branch which is housed in a cellar. “This place was very close to my heart and today it is totally ravaged. We have been using the pump to drain out the water for the last two days.’’

Actually, he had signed a MoU with the State government for a new academy at the University range. He had done a lot of repair work and wanted to take the equipment to Gachibowli for formal inauguration in November. But the Tuesday horror has upset Narang’s plans. “I don’t know how long it will take to assess the damage of each equipment. I have to dry it first before we can use it. But I have not lost hope. I’m down, but not out. I will make a concerted effort for the academy to start at the University shooting range,’’ said Narang, as he joined his other colleagues in the Operation Retrieval.

His first coach Niranjan Reddy said Gagan is a fighter. “He is shattered now, but I know that there are a lot of fighting qualities in him. I’m sure he will fight his way back,’’ he said.

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