10 mild quakes in 7 days rattle residents of Vijayapura and Kalaburgi

Vijayapura/Kalaburgi: The people of Kalaburgi and Vijayapura districts in north Karnataka were rattled by the en mild earthquakes in 7 days.

The region has been experiencing mild tremors for a month and the residents are living in fear.

The villagers are demanding that the government construct sheds in the open fields as every time loud noises are heard or light tremors are felt, people run out of their homes and spend the entire night in the open fields.

As many as 50 villages in Chincholi taluk experienced an earthquake of 4.1 magnitude on Monday night. Two houses collapsed as a result. The locals have alleged that no officer from the mining and geology department or representatives from the ruling BJP have visited them to listen to their problems.

Between September 4 and October 11 the people of Vijayapura, Sindhagi, Basavana Bagewadi, Kolhara and Tikota taluks experienced earthquakes 8 times. The tremors have been recorded five times on the Richter scale.

In Gadikeshwara village in Chincholi taluk people have been hearing loud noises and experiencing tremors for the last 6 years. They experienced an earthquake of 3.4 magnitude on the Richter scale on Sunday also. Last year a team of scientists from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre visited the village.

The experts’ team has come to the conclusion that the loud noises are natural, layers of earth water movement being the reason and there is no need to panic.

The government constructed sheds in many villages of Chincholi taluk in 2001-02 and 2016 and provided blankets also.

P. Sunil Kumar, District Commissioner of Vijayapura, has stated that they have requested an in-depth study on the earthquakes by experts. Once the study is done, they will learn the exact reason. Vijayapura district also houses the Alamatti dam, the largest in Asia. It has a water storage capacity of 123 TMC.

(With inputs from IANS)