The Hindu : Karnataka News : Landslip: rehabilitation promise yet to be kept

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Karnataka

Landslip: rehabilitation promise yet to be kept

Correspondent

Asare houses for the affected families remain incomplete

21 people died in landslip in Karwar on October 2 last year
Of the 21, 19 died in Kadwad village alone

— File Photo

Marathon session: The battalions of Maratha Light Infantry took three days to dig out the bodies caught in the red soil after the landslip in Kadwad on October 2, 2009.

Karwar: Exactly a year after torrential rain and landslips in Kadwad village in Karwar taluk, the construction of Asare houses for the affected families is incomplete and the promises made to the victims have not been kept.

On October 2, 2009, Karwar and surrounding areas witnessed unprecedented rainfall and landslips which caused the death of 21 people. Of them, 19 died in Kadwad alone.

On October 2, 2009 at around 8 a.m. there was heavy rainfall in Karwar. As such heavy rainfall is common in coastal areas, the people if the region went about their routine work as usual. But after two hours people in Karwar and surrounding areas realized that it was not normal rain but a cloud burst. The water entered the houses and roads were flooded. Telephone and mobile services were disrupted as the water entered the service stations. People tried to escape but it was water everywhere.

There was a minor incidence of the landslip at Zariwada area of Kadwad village on Friday afternoon. People living between the railway track and the hillock neglected the first landslip. But they did not realize that it would destroy everything. By evening, the boulders and the mud from the 100 ft height hillock began rolling down. About seven families bore the brunt of the fury of the landslip. One family escaped. But others were not so lucky. The boulders and mud moved about five hundred meters forward and all the people were caught under the debris. The moving boulders and mud were stopped by the railway track in the opposite side.

The battalions of Maratha Light Infantry took three days to dig out the bodies caught in the red soil.

Those families that lost their near and dear ones are still trying to come to terms with reality.

And those who lost their houses are yet to get the houses promised by the Government.

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