OF ANNUAL FLOODS AND COLLAPSING HOUSES IN LUNGA - THE SOLUTION?

Does it sound surprising whenever news of collapsing houses in Lunga hit headlines in various media? To some of us, this is no strange news at all. It is merely the fulfillment of what is anticipated. What is surprising is a reporter reporting a disaster of 268 ruined houses showing footage of firmly built fishing camps instead of distressed families or actual ruins.

Everyone knows that islands are prone to flooding whenever you have rains above normal. Our seasons are predictable. We exactly know that we will have rainy season from November to March. We also know the conditions under which inhabitants of the islands live during this period. In other words, we anticipate an annual disaster in the same way we wait for Christmas.

Also, everyone knows that the majority of people living on these islands are poor; who live below poverty datum line. This means that they cannot afford decent housing on their own and so live in huts that are easily washed away leaving them in distress.

It is also a fact that these people cannot be moved to other places because they are used to living here and feel this area is their inheritance. Like other natives in other parts of the country, asking them to go and live elsewhere is a very tall order.

The question then is, what can be done to this perennial problem of flooding and collapsing of huts which is treated as unforeseen disaster? Can anyone help these people in any way or is it God’s case which cannot be appealed to any other being?

We can suggest that government thinks of allocating funds in its budget to building low cost housing units for the poor people in such rural areas as part of disaster management. This is very possible. It wouldn’t matter if these were for multiple occupancy or for individual families; rather than the temporal relief tents provided every time there is this problem.

In India for example, Government provides free housing schemes for vulnerable people. A check on Karnataka.com confirms various types of schemes available to the poor which are provided through an agency called Rajiv Ghandi Rural Housing Corporation Ltd (RGRHCL)

“In Karnataka, a poor houseless person can get a house under different housing schemes like group, rural site or Aashraya colony,” indicates the Karnataka Government website.

People who qualify for such schemes are women, ex-soldiers, physically challenged, senior citizens, widows, socially backwards, houseless and widowers. There are even special schemes to carter for sex workers, HIV victims, Victims of communal violence, etc.  Can our local government and our member of parliament look at such models and lobby government for similar schemes?

For self- help houses built on islands, it’s time our local authority started providing guidelines on the way people should build. We now have

Flooded House in Lunga- Picture  LDA

a council. The Directorate of Engineering of our Council should provide free guidance to builders as a way to avoid houses perpetually collapsing, in the same way government provides free legal advice through paralegal to those who cannot afford lawyers.

Some residents of the islands, who are familiar with the trends of these floods, have attributed the worsening condition not only to climate change, but also to the negligence of canals most of which are blocked. They feel if canals and channels were being cleared regularly like in the past, floods could recede quicker, reducing the amount of stagnant water which is making their lives difficulty.

Instead of treating this issue as an emergency every year, our leaders need to start thinking of a permanent solution. It is cheaper for government, in the long term, to solve this problem sooner than later.