Kundapur: Monsoon Floods Cut Off Access to Kortugundi Village
 
Daijiworld Media Network—Kundapur (RD/CN)
 
Kundapur, Jul 28: Kortugundi is a small village located near a rivulet in the taluk, and is inhabited by nearly 34 families.  It often gets flooded during the monsoon, thereby causing havoc.  Due to the rising flood waters, the residents have had to move to nearby higher places seeking shelter. 
 
The bridge across the tributaries in Kortugundi, which gets submerged during the monsoon, has been the cause of major floods.  The bridge is a vital link connecting Kortugundi with Amasebail in the taluk. 

The families residing in the village cannot venture out and students from the village have had to skip their classes for many days till the waters receded. 
 
The dense forest behind Kortugundi village was frequented by Naxals in the past.  Due to the bridge submerging, over 300 people living in Kortugundi village are facing hardhsips.
 
Local social worker Srinivas Poojary, in a memorandum, urged the zilla panchayat CEO to take early measures to ferry local residents to their daily chores and also to build a new heightened bridge replacing the current bridge.
 
The local residents have many grievances about the unpaid compensation for loss of their houses due to major floods that occurred in 2009. 

The houses which collapsed in last year’s floods, were rebuilt on their respective sites, while some people migrated to other villages.  The irrigation department still has arrears of Rs 1.40 crore towards compensation for the displaced families to rebuild their houses. 

A majority of residents belong to the Bovi community and are distressed over the rising waters that have been wreaking havoc on their paddy fields, plantations, and other property.