Flood and landslide affected Kodagu district in Karnataka is limping back to normalcy as hundreds of people returned to their homes from relief camps, said an official on Sunday.
"Kodagu is getting back to normalcy. A total of 1,800 people returned from the relief camps to their villages wherever the houses are intact," state Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderia said in a statement.
The number of temporary relief shelters, which housed 5,041 people across the district last week, have come down to 32, with 3,227 people residing in them.
The relief camps were set up a week ago in the district after torrential rains caused floods and landslips in the hilly district during the southwest monsoon from August 14-22.
The district's Deputy Commissioner P. Sreevidya had asked to relieve all the rescue teams, including the Army, Air Force, Navy and other agencies while keeping one team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the statement added.
Torrential rains have claimed 17 lives while damaging more than 2,200 homes and public buildings. On Saturday, the district administration confirmed the deaths of 56-year-old Babu, 54-year-old Chandrappa and 47-year-old Francis alias Appu.
The Karnataka government has sought Rs 2,000 crore interim relief to rehabilitate the flood affected in the district, about 270 km from state capital Bengaluru. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who visited the district assured that compensation will be released after the damage has been assessed.
The district received moderate to heavy rainfall on Sunday, and is likely to continue to see moderate to heavy rains for the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The administration is also accepting relief materials including tarpaulin, sweaters, chairs, buckets, mugs, torches, blankets, gas stoves and geysers.
The materials should be sent to the Kodagu Deputy Commissioner’s office in Madikeri.