HUNSUR: This year’s Deepavali wasn’t a festival of lights for 60-year-old Parvathamma of Niluvagilu in Hunsur taluk. Reason: She had to spend the day in her bathroom-turned-single room house after the floods in August destroyed her house completely.
“We did not celebrate Ayudha Pooja and Deepavali in a grand fashion this year ... me and my granddaughter have been living in this bathroom for the past two months,” said Parvathamma, whose son is a daily-wage worker in Bengaluru.The rains also claimed the lives of her two cows. Parvathamma has so far received only Rs10,000 with which she could only set up the makeshift house.
“My husband, an alcoholic, died. My cows were my only source of income. I cannot ask my son for money as he himself is struggling to make ends meet,” she said. “I have received the work order for the house. But I do not have any money to start the construction work. By next Deepavali, I want to be in a safe house,” Parvathamma said.
For Swamy Nayaka, a daily wager and wife Savithri of Konasahalli, near the fringes of Nagarahole, 25 km from Hunsur, the situation is much worse as the family of four is staying in a community hall after their kitchen came down crashing in the rains.
“We still remember last year’s Deepavali celebrations. We had decorated the entire house with lamps. But this year, we are scared to even enter the house ... we cannot afford to rent a house,” said Savithri. Incidentally, the community hall was constructed by the government in a land donated by the family.
“We never thought we have to live with our girls in this community hall,” said Savithri With only a portion of their house damaged, the family only got the Rs 10,000 relief and Rs 1 lakh compensation for the damage. However, the entire house is in a dangerous situation with a weak roof and cracks on walls. “The engineer has accessed the damage as 75% and hence we hoped that we would get Rs 5 lakh as compensation ... we are waiting for it,” said Swamy Nayaka.
The family is having a Deepavali of woes as along with the house, they lost their entire banana plantation in the rains. “We lost lakhs of rupees of produce. There is no word about the compensation for it,” Swamy Nayaka added. Their neighbour Nandini and Velayudhan — a couple in their late 70s — also have their Deepavali in darkness since they also lost their kitchen portion to the floods as well as two acres of tapioca plants.
“They gave Rs 25,000 for the damage saying it is only a partial damage ... but the workers say it cannot be repaired with this money. What can we do? We lost our crops too... the authorities are not even speaking about it. How can we celebrate Deepavali in such a situation?” Nandini rued.