BENGALURU: The next time there is a flood-like situation, these 15 families in K C Halli hope to be living in a safe place. Forced to take refuge in a nearby building during last week’s devastating floods, the familes are back in their huts but are still waiting for some flood relief.
While the middle and upper middle class families living in apartments and houses in areas affected by the flood-like situation on Friday received food and other aid from the authorities, these 15 poor families living in huts in the area were ignored.
Those living in the huts are mostly from Yadagir district in north Karnataka working as construction workers.
They were among those worst hit by the floods as they live close to the Rajakaluve (storm water drain) and are yet to recover from the impact of the rains.
The families said they have been living in this area since eight years, when K C Halli witnessed rapid development in terms of construction.
Yellamma, a resident, said, “A wall attached to the Rajakaluve collapsed during the rains and sewage water entered our huts. We took shelter in a building for a day and came back later. As the ground here is wet, we have collected some planks and are sleeping on them and are worried that the the dampness may cause health risks. Both politicians and officials have turned a blind eye towards our plight.”
Sharanappa, another resident, said, “The rain has washed away all our utensils, belongings and groceries. As the place is not suitable for cooking we are forced to buy food from nearby footpath food joints.”
Madesha, a daily wage labourer, said, “Here, there are around 60 people, including children who go for construction work on a daily wage basis. We were involved in the construction of most of the buildings here but none of the people there considered our condition when the disaster happened.”
Ramesh Patil, another resident, said, “Due to the frequent drought situation in our native, we shifted to Bengaluru to earn a living. Now, we are only able to feed our family and don’t have money to take houses on rent. We are not even able to get houses allocated to below poverty line (BPL) families.”