Overnight showers add to woes of flood-displaced

The Wednesday night downpour has further compounded the plight of hundreds of people, who had been rendered homeless by the 2009 devastating floods, in Budihal village of Nargund taluk, Gadag district.

The overnight showers flooded the makeshift tin sheds and the Aasare homes of the displaced at the navagrama (new village). The spillover from streams, canal and the farmland only made matters worse. The elderly, children and women spent the entire night outside their Aasare homes, soaking in rain.

With the downpour rendering the houses unfit for occupation, the taluk administration on Thursday shifted the affected to a government school in the village. The villagers expressed their anguish against the apathy of the administration by laying siege to tahsildar.

Zilla Panchayat president Rajugouda Kenchangoudar told reporters that the Aasare homes built for the flood-hit villagers in 2009 were in a dilapidated condition and might fall anytime soon. I will submit a report on the same to the government. Steps will be taken to build a protection wall to prevent floodwaters from entering the village.”

Close shave for four

Meanwhile, four people had a close shave after a bullock cart swayed into an overflowing stream near Puchchaldinni in Raichur taluk on Thursday. The locals pulled all four and two oxen out of the swollen stream.

Many parts of Raichur and Koppal district experienced heavy showers on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. Many dead streams in the region have come back to life, leaving acres of cotton, tur, chilli and sunflower crops under water.