Hubballi: Tired of waiting for the government to come to their rescue, the flood victims of eight districts of North Karnataka have come together to fight for rehabilitation and reconstruction of their homes that were destroyed in the disaster.
To begin with they will hold a mammoth convention in Bagalkote on September 15 under the banner of various organisations, including Raitha Sangha and Kannada outfits. Invited to the event are deputy chief ministers Govind Karajol, Laxman Savadi who hail from the region.
The organisations later plan to take out a bullock carts procession from Talacauvery on October 2 for the flood victims and hold a protest rally in Bengaluru on October 4.
Sunday's convention will discuss the problems confronting the flood victims and then pass resolutions on the measures needed to help those who lost their homes and crops in the deluge. Although as many as 195 villages were submerged in Bagalkot district as the Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha rivers overflowed in the monsoon , compensation is being denied to the people of 98 villages on the grounds that they are covered by the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) and Aasare scheme, complain the organisations.
“Government officials claim that compensation has already been distributed to these villagers and they are continuing to live in their old homes despite being provided alternative sites. But the flood victims are living in their old homes to be near their farmlands, which is their main source of livelihood,” they said.
“The villagers have lost their houses and crops due to the devastating flood last month. The government should distribute compensation to all without any discrimination. We will intensify the agitation if these victims are deprived of compensation,” warned social activist, Nagaraj Hongal.
The flood-hit villagers also complain that the compensation under the National and State Disaster Response Fund is too little to meet their needs.
“We spend Rs 1.5 lakh per acre to grow sugarcane. We want compensation of at least Rs 1 lakh from the government. Also, the flood-hit villages must be shifted permanently to another site equipped with all basic amenities,” said Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene president, Badagalapura Nagendra.
