CANACONA: With no roof over their heads and no safe haven to escape to, nine members of a family from Hubli were found to be living under a culvert on the newly-built Manohar Parrikar bypass road at Char Rasta.
This included nine children aged between five to fifteen years. The family said they have been surviving from the ration given to them by a good samaritan from the locality. The helpless family who had come to Canacona in mid-February was earlier living in a tent but the May-end pre-monsoon showers washed the tents away. Since then they have been living under the culvert on the damp mud floor.
“For the last 15 days we are managing ourselves under this culvert”, said one of the stranded members, Manju Mudugund.
“We are grateful to the locals who gave us 50 kg rice, which will get over in a few days time. Locals also give us snacks which have helped us to survive till now”, he said.
There is every possibility of the culvert being flooded with the heavy rains, said a local from the village, while pointing out that this could have led to causalities.
Anita Dabreu, activist said the family needed urgent attention as they were living in inhumane conditions. “We have to forget the threat of coronavirus for the time being and shift the family to a safer location and take care of the kids as they deserve better than this,” she added .
Once the Canacona Deputy Collector was informed about their situation, he spoke to his counterpart in Karwar and made swift arrangements. By Friday evening, the family was taken in a Balrath school bus to the Polem checkpost and allowed to cross over. From there on, the Karnataka administration ensured that they reached their home in Hubli.
