Surrounded by murky waters near her tin house which is partially submerged, Sridevi Melagade, 34, was busy on Tuesday salvaging dry wood from the heap of drenched firewood.
After the floods inundated her house, she and her five family members have taken shelter at a makeshift rehabilitation centre, located about a half a kilometre away from her house in Algur village of Jamkhandi taluk.
Being one of the many displaced by floods in the Krishna, she hopes the situation will turn normal at the earliest.
But not everyone likes to stay at the centres and many others have chosen to stay at the houses of their relatives.
At another rehabilitation centre, a group of dairy farmers were upset that their milk-yielding cows and buffaloes were kept in the open after being rescued. “There is no shelter for the cattle and no adequate fodder,” said Sachin Kirdapur, 26, pointing to over 50 head of cattle.
Life has turned miserable for the people and cattle of about six villages of Jamkhandi taluk after their villages turned into islands following the release of a huge quantum of water from reservoirs in the Krishna river basin of Maharashtra.
Siddappa Malagi, 60, stood at the Chikkapadasalagi bridge gazing at the flood waters gushing underneath. “I have never seen anything like this all these years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the district administration is struggling to provide relief and rehabilitation to affected persons. Anand Nyamgouda, Jamkhandi MLA told The Hindu that around 600 people and their cattle have been evacuated from the inundated villages. The residents of Sharpali, Muttur, Tubachi, Siraguppi and Kankanwadi have been affected drastically and they have been shifted to temporary rehabilitation centres. “Three rehabilitation centres have been set up at Takkalaki, Hirepadasalgi and Algur. If required more will be opened. As many as 13 boats have been kept ready and 50 expert swimmers have been deployed for the rescue mission,” he said.
