BENGALURU: Hoddhetti Sudheer Kumar, a resident of Karike village in Bagamanadala, is unable to sleep at night, being in constant fear of earthquakes. Not only him, many other residents in his village and in five other neighbouring ones, are kept awake at night due to frequent tremors.They are constantly on alert. “We are our own security. We have decided that one person from each house take turns to keep watch at night to alert others in case of an earthquake. As soon as we will feel any tremor or hear a sound, we raise an alarm and everyone rushes out of their houses. We do not want to die in our sleep,” Kumar said.
The fear among the residents of Karike, Sampaje, Peraje, Chembu and surrounding villages is palpable. They recollect the Nepal earthquake and fear the same could occur here. Their fear only heightened after they experienced an earthquake at 1.15 am on Friday.
They are not convinced by the repeated assurances of officials that there is nothing to worry. “It feels like we are sitting on a boat that is floating in turbulent water and we fear we will all drown. Every time there is an earthquake, we hear a loud sound like a quarry blast which is followed by tremors. So the moment we her any blast, we run to open areas. While the adults run out, the worry is regarding senior citizens and children who need help,” Kumar added.
Another resident said that since their homes are near elevated regions, they fear that they may collapse due to landslips. “The 2008 earthquake was big, but it occurred one time and stopped. But now it is happening every day. In one week, we experienced it seven times. People are also worried to go to work in their fields as we do not want to leave our loved ones behind. We do not know what will happen to us the next moment,” the resident of Chembu village said.