Daijiworld Media Network - Madikeri (SP)

Madikeri, Nov 23: The house of Minnanda Ganapati, which was newly built six months back, had been crushed under the weight of a huge hill which got deposited on it on August 16 this year due to deluge that devastated large tracts of property including plantations and other property in Kerala and Kodagu.

The family is trying to retrieve whatever they could lay their hands on, from the spot where their dream home once existed. They are trying to find things, memories about which they cherish. They could access a few things which look like belonging to a bygone era.

Even now hundreds of families from Kodagu who lost whatever they had including houses, which were razed to the ground in the said tragedy, are trying to resurrect themselves. These families have been trying to find things which were crushed under the weight of slush and earth which came crashing on them from nowhere.

After a hillock fell on the house of Minnanda Ganapati from Hebbettageri village on August 16 due to the effect of a cloudburst, an old-aged woman who was inside the house then, was buried alive. However, Minnanda Ganapati and other family members had miraculously survived the catastrophe. Although every effort was made to bring out Ummavva, mother of Ganapati, who was buried under slush in the presence of the family members, the slushy flood which gained a height of 40 feet, did not allow them to do so. Later, in a rescue operation, her body was retrieved, but the house built six months back at a cost of Rs 15 lac had been decimated.

Ganapati and his family were sheltered in the house of relatives. Since the last two days, the family has been making efforts to find things which could be of use to them by hiring backhoe to dig out the spot where their house once existed, and which is under the heap of a hillock now.

During this search, two quintals of black pepper which has been thoroughly soaked in watery slush for long, torn clothes, broken cot, and a few documents which are defaced with slush were recovered. Continued search succeeded in finding a golden ring belonging to the late Ummavva, a pair of ear lobes, as well as Rs 10,000 in cash kept at home for meeting monthly expenses, which also has been smeared with dirt.

Two Kodava style bowls containing coconut oil, a double barrel country gun that is broken condition, LPG cylinder, and silver knife which is a part of the traditional things owned by Kodava families, were found.

Minnanda Ganapati wishes that no one comes across the mammoth misery which got heaped on his family. He laments the fact that he could not do anything to save his mother who got buried in front of his eyes. He said that the government had given him Rs. 1.2 lac towards the destroyed house and Rs 3,800 as compensation during the period he was in the rehabilitation camp. He said that various organizations have come forward to help him, and wants the government to build a house for the family that has become destitute overnight.