ATHANI: As the water inflow into Krishna river increased to 2.5 lakh cusecs because of heavy rain in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, villagers from Hulagbal, Pakali, and Mang hamlets in Athani taluk have started to move to safer places due to the threat of floods.
This move comes in the backdrop of the district administration’s fiat to the villagers residing on the banks of the Krishna River. However, the villagers reluctantly left their homes. They blamed the past and present governments for failing to take measures for their permanent rehabilitation to safe places.
The Mang hamlet in Hulagbal village has become an island as it is surrounded by river water. People of the village and their livestock had been relocated with the help of the plastic barrels. There was a paralysis patient among the flood victims in Mang hamlet.
The villagers struggled a lot to shift patient Shankar Mang to a safer place as he could not move his limbs. The villagers lifted and put him in a vehicle to move him to a safe place.
Many such small hamlets close to the river in Athani taluk are affected by floods every year. The villagers have been demanding that the government rehabilitate them to safe places permanently, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
