Kundapur: Floods cut off isle from mainland - residents in a fix
Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Jul 4: Copious rains that the Western Ghat region has been receiving since the last over a week has caused rivers and rivulets in this part of coastal Karnataka to overflow, besides giving rise to sea erosion. Natives of Sarkal isle, who were in a dilemma after the only contact bridge they had to reach the mainland got washed away sometime back, are now fearing the worst, after floods surrounded them on Tuesday night. The floods were caused by the rain received in the ghat region. The flood has now been giving sleepless nights to the villagers of Sarkal.
About 3,000 acres of paddy fields in Sarkal have now been inundated. Areca and coconut plantations have also been covered by water. Students are afraid of even attending schools by going round the waterlogged neighbourhood.
This has been the common plight of the villagers of Sarkal during every monsoon season. Even after six decades of independence, people of Sarkal isle, which forms a part of Kavarady gram panchayat in the taluk, have not found any major changes in their living conditions.
Sarkal is located just eight km away from the taluk headquarters. Sarkal can be reached by a ten minute walk from the road located opposite Saukoor temple. But because of the flood, the people here are now compelled to cover a distance of 30 km to reach the town.
Rainy season is the most dreaded period for the people of Sarkal every year, and they have not been able to wriggle out of the shackles of this unending misery. The only bridge built by the locals for crossing over to the other side during heavy rains has now been washed away. Moreover, the river around the isle has been swelling, with over 75% of Sarkal having been submerged by Wednesday July 3 evening. The people are afraid that the rain in the Western Ghats may heap further woes on them.
The isle has about 2,000 people living in 30 houses. About 50 children from the village attend different schools. Now they need to walk to Kandlur about 15 km away to take a bus for their institutions. In case someone falls sick, his family has to hire an auto rickshaw by paying Rs 200 to take a detour and reach the nearest hospital. The villagers are compelled to spend an entire day if they have to visit ration shops, banks, government offices and the like. The problems faced by the people here have often been covered by the media, but there has not been any positive response from either the government or its leaders.
The villagers are fed up of submitting memorandums, and their experience says that these memorandums go unnoticed. Flood water enters houses of most of the residents during every monsoon, and if the water level rises further, the families have no avenues to escape to safety. They are hopefully expectant that someone will take pity about their plight and do something to provide a lasting relief from this constant ordeal.
The people are also worried that the paddy seedlings they had planted will rot if the water level does not recede within a couple of days, putting their efforts and investment to naught, and robbing them of the only avenue of income, points out a local agriculturist, Ratnavati. Another local, Rama, questions as to how can old people cope with this problem, and small children attend their schools during monsoon. He says that auto rickshaw drivers, who demand exorbitant hire charges, often refuse to come to Sarkal even in case of emergencies.