MANGALURU: In the backdrop of recent landslides which claimed four lives, including three kids, the Dakshina Kannada dist administration has advised people living in landslide-prone areas to shift to safer areas briefly.
The authorities will try to convince them; if not they will be shifted with the help of police. As many as 135 relief centres will be opened to accommodate them in case of any disaster, the highest being in Mangaluru, Ullal and Sullia taluks. With India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a red alert for the district on June 12, the authority held a meeting with disaster management officials and the incident commanders on Tuesday. The district administration has issued orders to shift the families from vulnerable areas.
Incident commanders in every gram panchayath will visit their respective villages and assess the vulnerability of the specific area.
“We will give the families in writing as to why they have to shift and awareness will be created among the families. To make them aware about the landslide risks, we will show them the videos of the recent landslides that took four lives and the dangerous situation that they are in,” an officer said. The incident commanders have been instructed to submit the compliance report and relocating exercise for the next three days.
“It has become a big challenge to relocate thousands of residents settled in the areas. Majority of the residents are reluctant to shift to relief centres. Many families are ignoring the warnings issued multiple times by the officials of the district disaster management and the gram panchayats. Their reluctance has affected the relief measures. We have issued multiple rounds of safety alerts through local administrations but there is no positive response from many of the families,” said an official from the disaster management authority.
Authorities say many are reluctant to shift to relief centres—mostly in the Ullal region-- due to emotional attachment to their homes and land, concern for their livelihood, social stigma and resistance for change and some of them are ready to shift to their relatives’ houses but not to relief camps.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner in-charge Dr Anand K told TNIE that they have identified 88 areas vulnerable to landslides affecting an approximate population of 21,000 people and efforts are on to shift the families from most vulnerable areas to prevent any casualties in the coming days.