Karnataka

Evicted 40 years ago, they are yet to move out

HELPLESS: Villagers in front of a house that collapsed at Hale Singatalur village which remained inundated for almost a week in the backwaters of Tungabhadra Dam recently.

Singatalur (Gadag District): Officials say that these villagers were given compensation in 1963 and also allotted plots to build houses. However, they are not sure if the compensation given was full or only a part.

The villagers, on the other hand, say they received only 75 per cent of the compensation which was based on the evaluation done in 1945 on the areas to be submerged after the construction of Tungabhadra Dam at Hospet in Bellary district.

The villagers and the Gadag district officials do not have records in this regard.

So, even after four decades after Hosa Singatalur village was created in Mundargi taluk of Gadag district for the affected people of Hale Singatalur, which faced the threat of being submerged in the backwaters of the dam, people continue to live in the same village.

They would have continued to live in the same village if incessant rain had not caused the backwaters of the dam to inundate the village a fortnight ago. The backwaters had kept the 150 families inhabiting the Hale Shingatalur out of the village for almost a week.

Now a fortnight later, the villagers are back in the old village in the houses that are still damp, some of which have partially collapsed, while a few have been completely damaged. The roofs of the houses have become weak after being in water for several days. Several houses have developed cracks. And a few families are still living inmakeshift houses that they have built for themselves in Hosa Singatalur.

The main complaint of Prabhaiah Marulahiremath, Mahesh Fakirappa Hadapada, Siddappa Ishwarappa Bagewadi, who are back in the village, is that the “temporary compensation” promised by visiting Ministers has not reached them yet.

A registered medical practitioner Srikanthaiah Hiremath, who has returned after spending five days in a temporary shelter provided by the district administration, referred to an order announcing ex-gratia amount to the inhabitants displaced by the construction of the dam.

His allegation was that the district officials were feigning ignorance about the order whereas several people in Bellary district had benefited by it.

“Although the Government has given us plots, we do not have money to build houses. We would leave the village once and for all if the Government gives us the money that is due to us,” said Hiremath.

But some of the officials in the district have a different opinion about the inhabitants of village, the list of which includes the president of the Mundargi Taluk Panchayat, Parameshappa Bagewadi, among others.

They said that many have shifted to Hosa Singatalur by building houses on the plots allotted to them and some to Ashraya houses given to them.

“The needy have shifted, only those who are economically well off are staying behind,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

The taluk administration was finalising a survey report on the loss caused by the backwaters in eight villages of the taluk, including Singatalur, on Tuesday.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Mohsin said that the report is expected in a day or two based on which compensation would be disbursed.

Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar told The Hindu that the Cabinet had decided to build 150 Ashraya houses at Hosa Singatalur village to facilitate complete shifting of the old village.

On the confusion over the compensation for the displaced given in 1963, Mr. Shettar said he would be soon convene a meeting of officials and also take steps to find the old documents believed to be in Bagalkot.

Based on the meeting and documents, action would be taken, he said.

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