Mangaluru: Several families of Hillary Nagar and Kaiko in Ullal live in fear of the monsoon as their houses are lashed by huge sea waves in the heavy rain they bring. With every year they have seen the waves approach closer and closer.
Although boulders have been dumped in the sea to stop the erosion, the massive waves manage to cross them and hit the walls of many houses in the area. Seeing their plight, the Dakshina Kannada district administration and political representatives have now come up with a plan to shift 41 of these families to safer ground. They will be provided an alternate site by the government and a house under the Ashraya scheme.
With Ullal being the home constituency of Urban Development Minister, UT Khader, who also holds the housing portfolio, all the families could be shifted by the next monsoon.
Hillary Nagar and Kaiko have always been badly affected by sea erosion. The massive waves damage the houses on the shore and the government pays compensation to their owners. But now instead of providing compensation to these families every year, the officials here believe it may be cheaper in the long run to shift them to a safer location. The Mangaluru Tahsildar Guruprasad held a meeting with the villagers on Monday and placed the proposal before them and many seemed interested in it.
"We have identified the land and want the entire process to be completed quickly. By the next monsoon these people should be able to move into their new houses," said Deputy Commissioner, Sasikanth Senthil, speaking to the Deccan Chronicle.
