Flood victims in the district see a silver lining as the district administration has been clearing the encroachments of the government land in Abhyath Mangala towards rehabilitation measures.
Hundreds of people lost their homes during the floods this year. The people dwelling in proximity of the river were the worst affected. Many of the flood victims were not able to find homes for rent and are still staying at temporary sheds and at the relief centre.
The district administration has recently taken up an initiative towards clearing encroachments in a total of 7.70 acres of land in the survey numbers 87/2 and 87/4 in Abyath Mangala village to provide houses for flood victims.
The work on earmarking the sites is in full swing. A team of officials headed by Somwarpet tahsildar Govindaraju has been carrying out the related works.
Coffee and areca crops grown in the encroached land are being harvested and are handed over to the Gram Panchayat. Coffee plants and areca trees are being uprooted using earthmovers in order to clear and level the land.
Officials headed by Kushalnagar DCF Subraya have completed the counting of trees in the encroached land. As many as 339 trees have been marked. The trees will be cleared once the permission is obtained from higher officials of the Forest Department.
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy has been constantly monitoring the progress of the work by doing spot visits. The initiative by the deputy commissioner has been lauded in the public domain.
People who lost their houses owing to rain are now residing in temporary sheds. Some of them are sheltered in the relief centre in Nelyahudikeri.
If the land identified in Abhyath Mangala falls short, more land will be identified in Bettadakadu and a survey has already been carried out as per court orders.
Safiya, one of the flood victims, said that her family has been residing in the relief centre since the floods.
The victims at the centre have requested the government to provide houses for them. The works by the district administration in this regard has created hope, she added.