THOGURPETA (KADAPA): Completely or partially collapsed houses, household articles strewn all over the place, mud-filled houses and people salvaging whatever they can from the rubble are some of the scenes in the villages affected by Cheyyeru deluge.
Following unprecedented rains on November 18 and 19 under the influence of depression, inflows into Annamayya project on Cheyyeru increased abnormally, resulting in the breach of its bund. At least 12 villages downstream of the Annamayya project in Rajampet mandal were devastated by the deluge.
“Between 4:30 and 6:30 am on November 19, floodwater from Cheyyeru engulfed our village destroying all that came in its way. The floodwater has touched the roof of houses. It does not take much time for our houses to collapse like a pack of cards due to the intensity of deluge,” 60-year-old Anasuyamma of Thogurpeta told TNIE when it visited the village on Wednesday to study the ground situation.
By afternoon, the flood water had receded and villagers who left Thogurpeta to save their lives, returned to their village only to find themselves homeless and helpless as all their belongings were washed away in the floods.
At least 40 houses collapsed in two hamlets under Thogurpeta panchayat. Having lost all their belongings, the flood-hit villagers are now surviving on relief materials and food being provided by some NGOs. The district administration has provided an aid of Rs 2,000 each and essentials commodities worth Rs 3,800 to the flood -affected villagers.
They include 25 kg of rice, 1 kg of red gram, 1 kg of potatoes, 1 kg of onions and 1 litre of cooking oil.
The meagre aid seems to be highly inadequate to the flood-hit villagers who lost everything, which they earned over the years.
“Though the district administration has distributed essentials, we have no earthen oven or kerosene stove to cook the food,” said another victim, narrating their plight. The villagers virtually have nothing to meet their basic needs.
They do not have proper shelter to sleep and no toilets to relieve themselves. As a result, majority of flood victims have been spending sleepless nights for the past four days. “It is difficult for us to relieve ourselves in open places as no temporary toilets have been arranged even four days after the deluge,” said 28-year-old Ramadevi.
“We have set up a rehabilitation centre for the flood victims in Pathur government school with proper facilities like rest rooms and toilets. However, the villagers are reluctant to move to the centre,” Deputy Collector Padmaja, who is overseeing the flood relief operations, told TNIE.
“We can’t move to a relief camp, which is 4 km away from our village. All we request the authorities is to reconstruct our houses as we are devastated by the deluge,” pleaded Sanjeev, another villager. In the absence of a shelter, the villagers have been sleeping in the local Dasalamma temple at night, while some went to their relatives’ houses in neighbouring villages for taking temporary shelter.