The Hindu : Karnataka News : The promise that the Government didn't keep

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Thursday, Sep 30, 2010
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Karnataka

Karnataka

The promise that the Government didn't keep

M. Ahiraj

The displaced were told houses would be ready in six months

Losing hope?:Fakiramma in front of her temporary shed in Sridhargadde village.

BELLARY: What began as a temporary arrangement has apparently become permanent. For, the Government's assurances of constructing houses for the people affected by the floods last year has turned out to be nothing short of a mirage.

Of the 6,500 houses promised, only about 1,000 are nearing completion, while the rest are in various stages of construction in 16 villages in Sirguppa taluk and two villages in Hadagali taluk.

The displaced people in Sirguppa taluk have been forced to live in sub-human conditions in makeshift sheds even a year after the floods ravaged their houses and fields. All the 16 villages in the taluk were inundated.

Says Pompamma, an elderly woman from Hatcholli village, one of the worst affected in Sirguppa taluk: “It is over a year since our lives were devastated, and our hopes of getting new houses, as promised by the Government, are diminishing.”

Like many people in the village, she is not sure when the houses would be completed and allotted to them. “Due to the delay in allotting houses, only the women sleep in the temporary zinc sheet sheds while the men and children sleep in temples and in the open”, she says.

Mallamma, a house wife, gives another dimension of the plight. “Had the compensation been made available to us we could have built houses to suit our requirements. But this has not happened. Most of us have not received the enhanced compensation announced by the Government for fully collapsed houses”, says Mallamma.

After the deluge, the Government decided to shift all the chronically flood-affected villages by building ‘pucca' structures with all basic civic amenities. Mine owners in the district were roped in to bear the cost of construction of around 6,500 houses. The foundation stone was also laid by the Reddy brothers on October 28 last year at T.S. Kadlur village, which was also affected by floods, to mark the beginning of the construction of houses. It was promised that work on the houses would be completed in six months.

G. Janardhan Reddy, Minister for Tourism, who is also the district in-charge, has been saying repeatedly that the all the houses would be ready by December. Looking at the pace of work it appears that the work will not be completed by that time.

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