Families lose all in Kodagu landslides, even jewellery

Bengaluru: The tragedy of Kodagu, where scores of people have lost their homes in the recent floods and landslides, is deepening as along with the houses, the disaster has also washed away jewellery stored in cupboards by families for the upcoming weddings of their daughters. A few , who ventured back to their villages to look for the jewellery they had locked up  in the almirahs, found no trace of their houses. 

In Jodupala village  one man tried  to dig through  heaps of red soil to reach his house and find the metal almirah in which he had locked the  jewellery he had bought for the wedding of his daughter next month, but came up with nothing.  He had fled with his family when heavy landslides hit their village , locking the jewellery in it.

"I  have nothing as everything has been washed away in the rain and landslide,” cries Mr Roshan. But luckily for him his friends are contributing to help him hold a simple wedding. “By God’s grace, we have all survived. I will pool some money and buy my daughter gold jewellery again," he adds teary eyed.  Also worried is Mr Bopanna of Mukodlu village in Madikeri Taluk, whose two daughters are getting married on August 26 and in September second week as the gold and money he  had kept aside for them have disappeared along with his house.

Unfortunately,  his friends are not able to help  as they too have lost everything in the recent rain, which changed the lives of scores of people. The wedding will now be  a simple affair, he says , rueing that it will take years for  people like him to recover from this natural disaster. Some families are being helped by good Samaritans, who are buying the mangalasutras for brides or bearing the  food expenses for upcoming weddings.