Marooned Emmemadu villagers demand boating facility

Residents of several villages in Emmemadu Gram Panchayat have been finding it difficult to move out of their villages as the roads are inundated following incessant showers in the recent past.

Around 60 families, in the proximity of river Cauvery, have been stranded owing to a flood-like situation in the region. The area has now been converted to an island as there are no proper boat facilities to reach Bengaluru or Emmemadu.

The flood situation occurs during every monsoon. During the floods, the villagers depend on boat facility as all the roads connecting the villages of Emmemadu Gram Panchayat limits, to Cherambane, are closed. Till the previous year, the villagers used to travel in boats to reach Cherambane.

But, as the boat has worn out, the people, mostly the daily wagers from Padiyadi, Emmemadu and Bengaluru, are struggling to reach Cherambane village.

The Koodakanda family, residents of Parambu Paisari land, were also dependent on boats, to travel to other villages as they preferred the direct route, instead of covering a long distance.

The district administration and the Gram Panchayat had been arranging the boat facility, by hiring a boatman on the basis of a monthly salary of Rs 1,500.

The boat needed repair as it was in use for the last many years. Though the villagers had urged the local administration to repair the boat, the Gram Panchayat said that the Panchayat administration could not afford to spend money for the maintenance of the boat.

The villagers have requested the deputy commissioner to intervene and to provide them with the necessary facility.