Kushalnagar: Shocking, but true. Truckloads of relief items that were meant to provide some succour to the flood victims sheltered in Kodagu have been diverted to private godowns by politicians and party workers to be used to woo voters in the forthcoming Kushalnagar and Somwarpet Town Panchayat elections. Following a series of complaints from the residents of Kushalnagar, the Kodagu District Administration has cracked the whip and now the administration has taken over the receiving, stocking and supplying of relief materials to prevent misuse. Tonnes and tonnes of relief materials have been arriving in Kodagu district and on an average, more than 40 trucks, apart from mini-trucks and other vehicles, come to the Mysuru-Kushalnagar border every day, carrying loads of relief materials from various parts of the State including Belagavi, Mysuru, Bengaluru, Bagalkot and Chitradurga. Once they arrive in Kushalnagar, these materials were collected by the local residents, voluntary organisations and NGOs from their respective areas and distributed them to flood victims housed in relief camps that have been set up at Suntikoppa, Madikeri and other places. However, on Aug. 20, many trucks were stopped by some people in Kushalnagar and were diverted to private godowns. When the truck drivers objected, they claimed that the materials would be temporarily stocked in the godowns and would be supplied to flood victims at a later stage.
