Kodagu flood victims stage protest for relief

More than 222 families lost their homes in the disaster

Kodagu flood victims during the indefinite day and night agitation at Siddapura in Virajpet taluk.

The ongoing agitation by the flood victims at Siddapura in Virajpet taluk seeking immediate allotment of land for the construction of houses has put the Kodagu district administration in a spot.

More than 222 families from Karadigodu and Guhya villages in Siddapura Gram Panchayat had lost their homes in the floods resulting from the swollen Cauvery after heavy rains lashed the region in August last year.

Citing alleged delay in identifying land, the victims launched the day and night agitation in front of Siddapura GP on February 10.

Efforts to placate the protesters have been in vain. They are unrelenting and have threatened to intensify the protest until their demands were met. MLA K.G. Bopaiah made a futile bid to soothe them.

Yamuna M.A., former president, Siddapura GP, and convener of Flood Victims’ Association, said the affected families had staged a massive protest on the same issue at Siddapura on September 30 last year and Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy, who visited the protest site, had promised to address their concerns within three months. There is no solution in sight to their problem even today. The affected families were living in miserable conditions in temporary structures at the same site where their houses existed before floods close to the bank, she said.

Assistant Commissioner Jaware Gowda, however, denied any delay in identifying land as he claimed that serious efforts were being made but they were unable to get suitable government land to build houses. Some are facing encroachments, he added. Those who had lost houses will get new ones built at cost of ₹5 lakh each. Moreover, the government has approved house rent for the affected families and steps have been taken to credit five months rent to their accounts, Mr. Gowda said.

“Houses will be constructed in ten months once we get the land. The families are insisting on land in Virajpet taluk since land was available outside the taluk. We shall look for private land if necessary,” he said.

Locals claim that some affected families’ names had not been included in the list of those who lost homes in the floods (based on the extent of damages to houses). The total number of affected families including those from Guhya, Siddapura and Karadigodu is 387, with highest number of affected from Karadigodu and Guhya.

The list had been made based on damage to houses. Over 66 houses were destroyed completely in the floods. Some had suffered 75-80% damage and others, lesser. But all of them had been identified for relocation since the threat of floods loomed large if they continued to stay near the river bank.