Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (JD)
Udupi, May 30: Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlanje on Wednesday, May 30 visited rain-affected areas like Kalsanka, Padubidri and others, a day after torrential rains caused widespread devastation and claimed four lives in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Speaking to the reporters, the MP said, "Losses have incurred due to heavy rain in both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. More than 1,000 electrical poles are uprooted. A girl, Nidhi from Padubidri, lost her life. I will visit her house. As portfolios have been not allotted, it is difficult for officials to undertake relief measures. I hereby request the chief minister to start governing as soon as possible. Only the chief minister is handling the administration for now. For last 15 days, all the MLAs were in the resort and now they have gone to Delhi seeking portfolios.
"I have asked the DC to undertake relief measures. Officials have started working. Money will be given from relief fund to the family of Nidhi and Sheela, a gram panchayat member from Karkala who died on Monday after lightening struck her. For the next three months, there will be continuous rain in the district. Hence, those who have lost their houses must be provided proper facility to stay," she said.
The MP also visited the house of Nidhi Acharya, the nine-year-old girl who lost her life after getting washed away in the rains on Tuesday. The MP spoke to her parents and expressed condolences. Locals complained that shoddy work by Navayug Company, which has undertaken the extension work of National Highway 66, is the reason for the child’s death.
Baby, a local who tried to rescue Nidhi said, "As the lower part of the bridge in Padubidri is closed, the region is flooded. As there was heavy rain yesterday, though the children were screaming, no one could hear them. When I saw them drowning, I myself went to rescue them. But as I went forward, the water level increased and I also got scared. Immediately, I called one of our neighbors, Sathish Shetty. He went near the children and rescued the elder one.
"As Nidhi was short and the water was too high, she got washed away. After many years, we witnessed this kind of rain. Earlier, water used to pass easily and go into sea. The child could have been saved even if there were safety poles on both sides of the road," she said.
The family had shifted here three years ago. Nidhi’s father Umesh Acharya is an agriculturist and her mother used to stitch clothes.
After visiting Nidhi’s house, Shobha Karandlanje said, "Rs 4 lac compensation has been announced for the family from disaster relief fund. Immediate action will be taken to repair the roads. National highway extension work in Padubidri will be completed soon. Navayug Company has been already blacklisted. They do not have any other contract than this road construction work in the country. Immediate action will be taken against the company for causing artificial floods in the region."
Kaup MLA Lalaji R Mendon, district BJP president Mattaru Rathnakar Hegde, and Geethanjali Suvarna, zilla panchayat vice-president Sheela Shetty were present.