Floods have swept through many villages and towns in Karnataka killing over 90 people and ruining the lives of 7 lakh. What has remained is people’s pain. And what is stirring anger is victims’ claim of poor relief response from the Centre and the State.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has found himself caught between nature’s fury, lack of resources and delayed central relief. And, now, finally some central assistance. But aid is too little, too late, cry many.
The floods that rendered lakhs of people homeless in August, especially in the Krishna river basin, has at last woken up the Centre from its stupor.
But a meagre Rs 1,200 crore interim relief, which the Centre released as against the state’s demand of Rs 35,000 crore on Friday, many say, is not enough to rehabilitate lakhs of people affected in 103 taluks in 22 of the 30 districts.
While opposition leaders attribute the crisis to the politics of vengeance of the central BJP leadership against the state unit - which they feel perhaps is the reason why the Centre is reluctant to extend generous financial aid - BJP leaders in the state are confident that they will get what they ask for from Delhi.
With the situation getting out of hand, a large population - still languishing in gruel centres or rendered homeless by the calamity - has hit the streets to protest “the Centre’s anti-Karnataka stand and the state government’s failure to take up effective rehabilitation”.
Despite the state government’s claim of providing Rs 10,000 as immediate compensation to each of the affected, it has come to light that many did not get it.
Rs 11,000 crore loss in Belagavi
In the worst-hit Belagavi district, the estimated loss is put at a whopping Rs 11,193 crore. According to the Belagavi district administration, 1.12 lakh families have been paid Rs 10,000 aid per family. The ground situation, however, is different.
When TNIE visited a gruel centre in an under-construction government hostel in Gokak, the victims there said they were yet to get the money.
“We have been waiting for the compensation ever since our houses collapsed in the floods owing to the overflowing Ghataprabha river two months ago. We have been assured of Rs 5 lakh to get new houses constructed ... but we are yet to get the immediate relief of Rs 10,000,’’ says Dundavva Gadad, who is currently housed in the rehabilitation centre.
Her friends Laxmi Kuri and Mallavvva Chunavar nod in agreement. Most of the 300 people at this centre are unwilling to move to temporary sheds set up near Janata Colony. They want the government to provide better facilities until they are allotted new houses.
At Ramdurg, most of the 44 families at a rehabilitation centre at a community hall are yet to get any aid. In many of the other affected places in the district too, thousands of people still await the initial relief even as authorities claim most of them have been given the compensation.
According to the CM, 872 villages have been affected in Belagavi district and public property worth Rs 2,194 crore and houses worth Rs 2,996.58 crore have been totally damaged. As per initial estimates, the total crop loss in Belagavi has been estimated at Rs 3,229 crore while the death of animals has caused a loss of Rs 9.29 crore.
In Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts, at least 45,000 families have been affected and 75,000 hectares of farm land destroyed. The Bagalkot district administration is working on an action plan to relocate at least 40 villages, on the banks of the Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha rivers, which were severely affected.
Another ‘looming’ disaster
The floods have caused severe damage to the thriving power loom sector in Bagalkot to a great extent. Nilkant Gowrihara Muttu, president of Rabkavi Power Loom and Sizing Owners’ Association, said, “We have never witnessed such a flood. It has ruined the lives of weavers. The loss to the textile industry in the region is estimated at Rs 3 crore. As many as five power loom units, three writhing units and one sizing unit in Rabkavi have been completely damaged.”
He said that 100 handloom units were destroyed in Bagalkot district.
“The CM announced Rs 25,000 as compensation to each power and handloom units, which is insufficient to restart them,” said Muttu, a fourth-generation weaver.
Herculean task for students
The situation is no different in Gadag district. Though Deputy Commissioner MG Hiremath claims that 9,937 families have been given the initial aid, residents say otherwise.
Ron and Nargund taluks were the worst-affected due to the flooding Malaprabha and Bennehalla rivers. In Tadahal, students have to cross a 3-km field filled with slush to reach their school.
Kodagu scene grim
In Kodagu, 64 families are still languishing in a relief centre set up in a government school in Nellihudikeri where the school authorities are conducting classes for students.
Though the victims were paid Rs 10,000 aid, people from Bettadakadu, Kumbaragundi, Nalvathacre, Guhya and Karadigodu -who are housed in the centre - refuse to move out until they are allotted new houses.
Meanwhile, in Dharwad district, only Rs 9 crore of the Rs 66 crore sought as flood-relief has been released so far by the government.