‘We drank floodwaters for 2 days to quench our thirst’

With road connectivity having been cut off, the flood-hit people of Honagunta village are being ferried in a boat to Bhima nagar, in Kalburgi district. DH PHOTO/PRASHANTH H G 

Floodwaters have left residents of villages located on the banks of Bhima and Kagina rivers in tatters.

“Several residents spent two nights on the rooftop of their houses as the flood water suddenly marooned the village. We drank floodwater to quench thirst. Except four houses, all houses in the village were under water for two days,” said Nagamma Natikar Agadi, a resident of Metaga village in Shahabad taluk.

Narrating her ordeal during the floods in Kagina river, she said most of the villagers had taken shelter in the unaffected three-four houses in the village.

Bhimu Ravoor said there was no power in the village as the electric poles came crashing down during the floods. Crops on vast tracts of agriculture fields have damaged.

“No officials visited the village since there is no road connectivity. The bridge leading to Metaga village was under water. The village was cut off from rest of the world for two days”, he said.

Similar was the situation at Honagunta village where about 500 houses were flooded due to the furious Kagina and Bhima rivers. The villagers are still spending life without electricity after the deluge. The people lined up in front of a water tanker to collect drinking water. Some houses were damaged in the flash floods.

Ninganna Varavi Poojari, a resident of the village, said not a single official visited the village during the deluge. “No arrangements were made to provide food for the affected people”, he said.

Kallappa Pyati, a resident Firozabad in Kalaburagi taluk alleged that the officials had allotted new houses to such persons who will not be affected by floods. “Though around 20 families of the village bear the brunt of the floods of Bhima river, they have not been allotted the houses,” he said.