Evacuees have started returning to their respective villages in Kodagu and Mysuru districts, though in small numbers, to check out the condition of their flooded homes and properties after over a week of staying in relief centres.
As many as 8,000 people have taken shelter in about 45 relief centres across Kodagu since the deluge. With rains and floods receding, some families were going back to their homes on their own although they can remain in the centres until the situation eases fully.
Some families went back to see what is left behind for rebuilding their lives post-floods.
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In one of the relief centres in Murnad Gram Panchayat in Kodagu, about 25 families out of 56 housed returned to their villages to assess the damage and re-establish their dwelling.
About 336 houses were partially damaged and 153 fully damaged in the deluge.
A nodal officer at Murnad GP said the evacuees voluntarily returned to their homes on Tuesday to check out the remains that could be salvaged and find out whether they can continue to live there.
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The revenue and gram panchayat officers, who are assessing the damage to property, were taking one of the members of the families housed in the relief centres to their respective villages to assess the loss.
Abdul Lateef, a native of Aikola, who has taken shelter in Murnad GP, said the evacuees were being looked after well and are being comforted by the authorities. “We have nothing left to go back to our villages since the rain and landslips caused extensive damage. The damage to Aikola was more than last year’s floods,” he added.
Tough job
At Nanjangud near Mysuru, affected by floods after heavy discharge from Kabini, some evacuees left for their homes on Tuesday morning and returned after sometime after finding it tough to stay there with debris and slush stacked up. Some fear more rains and their homes getting flooded again although there is no heavy rain warning.
Geethalakshmi, nodal officer at a relief centre in Nanjangud, said some evacuees had not even locked up their homes and left everything there after the flood warning. At Seetharama Mantap relief centre, the number of families taking shelter went up from 57 to 75 on Monday. “The health workers have started going to the affected villages and disinfecting the places. Clearing the debris and dirt piled up in flooded homes is a challenge.”
Schools are likely to resume from August 16 in Kodagu since the holiday for schools and colleges had been extended till August 14. Many relief centres had been set up in school buildings.
If the holiday is extended further, the relief centres can function in the buildings. However, if the schools reopen since there is no heavy rain warning, relief centres need to be relocated.
“No decision has been taken on what to do with the relief centres set up in school buildings. Since some evacuees are going back to their villages with rains and floods receding, we need to check how many will remain in the centres and then take a call on their relocation,” said a senior district official.
Body identified
At Thora in Kodagu, which was badly hit by landslips, the body of Anasuya, who went missing along with seven others, was found under the debris by the rescuers.
The NDRF team found the body buried under the remnants of a major landslip during the search operation for the missing in the village bordering Kerala.
She and seven others went missing on August 9. The other missing persons are suspected to have been buried the landslip and chances of their survival appear remote after the woman’s body was retrieved.