As heavy rains lash Mangaluru, flood victims look for safe haven
Credit; DH photo
Mangaluru: Heavy rains lashed parts of Karnataka on Sunday prompting Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to sound a red alert in many of the districts.
Many areas in Mangaluru were inundated as floodwaters made its way into people's home and bringing normal life to a standstill.
65-year-old Susheela, a resident of Attavar, near Sri Krishna Bhajana Mandira said, “Grains, household articles, clothes—everything was washed away in the flood on Saturday.
"We came to the relief centre with only the clothes on our backs. We don’t even know what is left in our house now,” she said .
She, along with her daughter and two grandchildren, are currently taking shelter at the relief centre set up by the district administration at the Mini Town Hall in Mangaluru.
“With floodwaters entering our house every monsoon, where can I go for safety?” asks 66-year-old Saraswathi, another resident of Attavar, near Vaidyanatha Temple.
“I live alone, and a nearby hotel provides me with food every day. The mud wall of my house could collapse at any moment. I’ve lived there for the past 43 years. I used to sell groundnuts to make a living, but I stopped five years ago,” she told DH.
“It looks like the rain won’t stop today. I don’t know when I will be able to return home—or what condition it will be in,” she added.
When the region was hit by heavy rain on May 29, water began gushing into houses around 1:30 am
“The water rose up to my chest. We took shelter in the Bhajana Mandira, but that too got flooded. The Tahsildar, after inspecting our house, advised us to move to a safer location. We can't go to our relatives’ house, as they don’t welcome us,” said Susheela.
“When we returned on May 30, our refrigerator had toppled, and all our clothes were gone. And now, the situation has repeated,” she added.
“Our 70-year-old house has mud walls. Whenever it rains heavily, water seeps through the floor. Before leaving the house, I placed my daughter’s school bag on the wall, hoping it would stay safe. I don’t know if it’s still intact,” said Saritha, daughter of Susheela.
“We are scared. The adjacent house's wall has already collapsed, and there are visible cracks on ours. The drain near our house needs to be deepened, and a retaining wall must be built to prevent waterlogging,” she said.
“There was waterlogging in this area back in 2018–19 too, but it was only knee-deep. On Saturday, the water kept rising and reached chest level,” she added.
The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has provided bedsheets, mats, toothpaste, and food at the relief centre.
“But all we worry about now is returning home—and what we will find when we get there,” said Saritha.