Bangalore: Ramesh, a flood victim in Karnataka clung precariously to life on this treetop in Raichur for more than 72 hours. Surrounded by water, living minute to minute, the 28 year old lorry driver found a second birth. An IAF helicopter winched him to safety in an storybook rescue operation.
Ramesh's story is just one of many survivor tales in the villages of north Karnataka. As villagers wait for flood waters to recede to rebuild their homes, they dread the future.
The river breached and all is lost people are too scared and have run away from their homes and families have been separated.
"Our village is in the water. We have been moving from place to place. What should we do now. It rained and it stopped, but our crops are gone. How do we live?," questioned a flood victim, Kajamma.
Kajamma has been sheltering at the Raichur railway station for the last four days. There are many others like her. Some managed to save a few belongings, but most had to abandon everything as the water rose.
"We just have this one set of clothes we are wearing, we don't even have a glass to drink water from. Everything is lost, we don't even want to live any longer. What is there to live for," said Kajamma.
Over 200 people have died from flood waters, over one lakh homes destroyed. The loss to crops is yet to be estimated. The specter of disease and food shortage hangs over north Karnataka's relief camps. The waters have started receding, but road to rebuilding will be a hard and long one.
In Raichur, 30 people have died and 30,000 people have been shifted to about 59 relief camps. 10,000 houses have been damaged. Although the flood waters have now receded. The administration now faces the painful process of rebuilding. But it's an uphill task ahead with roads having been destroyed. Rescue missions continue to drop food and water in the flood-hit areas.
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