MYSURU: Cheluvi and her family members are taking shelter in a house which is on the verge of collapse while Paapamma is residing in a barbershop.
This is the sad state of affairs at Bidarahalli Circle, a remote village in Saraguru taluk of Mysuru where over 40 flood-affected families are struggling without proper shelter since last two years.
The 2019 floods triggered by the torrential rain destroyed houses of the residents of Bidarahalli, a village in the downstream of Kabini in Saraguru taluk.
Two years have passed since the incident, floods are back in the state and the threat of a similar situation looms large. Promises made by the authorities and the government still remains on the paper.
After several houses were damaged in the floods, the government identified and announced to construct 43 houses and rehabilitate them in the upper part of the village besides providing them a compensation of `50,000.
Then Housing Minister V Somanna, along with tahsildar and assistant commissioner, even laid foundation stone and the construction began but did not take off due to various reasons.
"Two years have passed since the incident but grievances of the people remain unaddressed. We held protests and took residents to offices of tahsildar and DC. But nothing has yielded so far," said Sunil T R, district executive member of SUCI-C, which is voicing for the flood-hit.
He said the government, in its two-year completion report recently, claimed to have rehabilitated them which is far from truth as houses itself have not been built.
The people of the village and their ancestors who came here for the construction of Kabini reservoir settled here and are eking out a livelihood by taking up odd jobs.
"The pandemic has made our lives miserable. With no work, we are reeling under financial crisis in addition to it we are living in fear of collapse and threat of wild animals," said Cheluvi.
When asked about this, officials from the Saraguru tahsildar office said a land belonging to the irrigation department was initially granted to them and it took a few months to transfer it to the revenue department.
"After the transfer of land, the work was supposed to start but Covid hampered it," said an official.