Karnatak

Kodagu floods: Three more bodies recovered; toll rises to 20

Work under way to strenghten the national highway at Kedakal village in Kodagu .

Work under way to strenghten the national highway at Kedakal village in Kodagu .   | Photo Credit: Sampath Kumar G.P.

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Number of people living in relief camps has reduced to around 4,090

The recovery of three more bodies in Kodagu on Saturday has taken the toll, owing to the natural calamities, to 20.

Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderia said that the NDRF team confirmed the recovery of the body of 54-year-old Chandrappa while Garuda teams recovered the body of 56-year-old Babu.

The teams of the Navy, the police and the Garuda, in a joint operation, also recovered the body of 47-year-old Francis alias Appu, he added.

The Relief Commissioner said that the teams were still deployed in Kodagu and were searching for missing persons and a call on the derequisition of the rescue teams will be taken in due course.

As many as 100 agricultural assistants have been deployed to assess crop damage, including revenue staff from the adjoining districts.

There are concerns over poor road connectivity from Madikeri to the rural hinterland owing to landslips and social media is full of travails of how a 45-minute journey now takes around five hours and local officials said that efforts are on to restore road connectivity.

Meanwhile, the number of people living in the relief camps has reduced to around 4,090 from a high of nearly 8,000 last week.

Authorities said that about 44 acres of land have been identified at different places for the construction of temporary shelters for those whose houses were damaged and rendered unfit for living.

The focus is on ensuring road connectivity to reach the areas ravaged by landslips.

People from the relief camps are shifting to their houses and the district administration was providing them with food kit as rations.