Most people at Gadikeshwar village in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district deserted the village after it was hit by frequent tremors in the last few days. As many as 30 houses in the village that were in close proximity to the epicentre of the tremors have collapsed and many more developed cracks.
“Around 75% of people have left the village in fear. They have taken shelter at the houses of their relatives in faraway places Some have even gone as far as Pune. The remaining people in the village are frightened in the anticipation of a bigger and destructive earthquakes,” Malappa Appoji, a resident of Gadikeshwar told The Hindu.
The people in the other villages, which are relatively less hit by the mild earthquakes, are still in their villages but living in fear. In Tegalatippi, for instance, where two houses have collapsed, around 50 families have fled the village. The villagers alleged that the government was doing nothing to rehabilitate them in safer places.
In Halchera, only two families have fled the village and the rest of the people are spending nights in open places to avoid the risk of their houses falling on them in the event of an earthquake.
“Two houses have been destroyed in the earthquake and around seven damaged. Two families have fled the village in fear of earthquakes. All the people sleep in the open places during the night. Even in the daytime, people try to avoid staying inside the houses.
Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jyothsna and other senior officers visited the village. But, nothing concrete is done to make safer staying arrangements for the people,” Mallikarjun, a resident of Halchera, said.
In Kupanur, which was just 1.6 km away from the epicentre of tremor with an intensity of 3.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale recorded on Wednesday, as many as 10 houses have developed cracks. Most of the people are staying in the village after the administration promised them to get safer tents built for them.
Speaking to this correspondent, Anjum Tabassum, Chincholi tahsildar, said that the administration had already opened relief centres and built temporary sheds in Gadikeshwar. She added that a medical team had been stationed in the village to handle any medical emergencies.
