Hiremagi village in Karnataka still mourns for its lost souls

“Kavitha Yamunappa Chauhan, Death 3-10-2009, Boat Tragedy,” reads the caption below a photo placed on the weak wall of a small house in Hiremagi village in Bagalkot taluk. Eight-year-old Kavitha was standing homeless and helpless like hundreds of villagers on an elevated place in their village as flood waters from Malaprabha river turned Hiremagi into an island on October 3, 2009.

It was around 12 noon and Kavitha along with her sister Prema boarded the rescue boat, which came their way. That was the last time her 12 member family (11 children and mother) saw her alive as the boat with 35 members sank in the waters, killing five of them, including Kavitha. Her elder brother Ravi, who was at the river bank, immediately swam towards the site of the tragedy. He was able to save a few people who fell from the boat, but couldn’t find his own sister, whose body was fished out later.

“Every teacher in the village government school, where Kavitha was studying was shocked at her death. She was the seventh of the 11 kids in our family and the void she has left, cannot be filled by anyone,” said Ravi. “After the tragedy, villagers are now, fearing to let their children to play by the river side. Many have strictly banned their kids from going there. Who knows when the rains will cause floods,” he said.

The state government has promised to construct houses for the families here, but they are yet to be completed. “The roof in the old house, in which we are living, leaks whenever it rains and it is a small house too. The houses being built by the government are even smaller and irrespective of the number of members in the family, the size of the house is same,” said Ravi. However, Ravi is happy about the Rs1 lakh compensation given by the government following the death of Kavitha, as he was able to provide education to his sisters.