Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was besieged by a flood of appeals seeking assistance for housing, education, employment and social security, from the people affected by flood and landslips in Kodagu. Nearly a thousand people participated at an interaction held in Madikeri on Wednesday.
He assured housing, financial assistance for children to complete their education, and a job for one member of every family affected by the floods.
A majority of the demands pertained to repair and reconstruction of houses that were completely damaged. However, the victims made it clear that they did not want a uniform group housing scheme typical of such rehabilitation exercises undertaken by the government.
There were also petitions pertaining to restoration of farmland to facilitate agricultural activity. Those whose farms were obliterated sought alternative land besides housing at the same place.
Another prominent demand pertained to waiving of loans availed from cooperative societies, nationalised banks, and micro finance companies. In addition, there were demands for government jobs for at least one member of every flood-hit family. Coffee cultivators wanted a loan waiver besides constitution of a task force to restore the plantations.
There were complaints against the Revenue Department for its failure to issue title deeds to farmers who were cultivating land for generations as a result of which they were being denied relief from the government.
One of the flood-affected victims — Joseph from Jyothinagar — complained that his visits to the government offices were of no avail as the officials refused to take cognisance of his complaints in the absence of documents. He said there were 40 such families who were denied relief.
People from the rural hinterland said there were many villages where houses were in a precarious condition having developed cracks, while the land was unstable. They expressed fear that these villages would suffer in the next monsoon and hence wanted the local people there to be relocated. A few daily wagers from Madapura said lack of jobs had hit their livelihood and they wanted compensation and work. Stakeholders from the tourism sector sought a six-month tax holiday to help recoup from the floods.
The Chief Minister also took part in Cauvery Theerthodbhava at Talacauvery.
