MADIKERI: With water levels decreasing in the Cauvery , local streams ebbing and rain easing, victims of the mayhem in Kodagu, most of whom were housed in relief camps, are slowly returning to their homes — or what is left of them. Many have lost all that they owned and some returned to the camps depressed and dejected.Many are finding it hard to come to grips with the devastation and the fact that they have lost everything. M Sadananda is one of them.“It is all over for us,” said Sadananda, who on Tuesday visited the spot where his house and modest coffee plantation once stood. “My father was a plantation labourer. After immense struggle I was managed to buy 2.5acres of land and planted coffee. Today, my plantation is completely destroyed. There is nothing left to show I was born and brought up in this land.”He went on to add: “I built my own house. I don't know what to do with slush filled land now. The efforts of an entire generation have been destroyed. I am clueless about what to do next. I may get a house and money from the government, but all my effort has been wasted.”Sadananda is staying at a relative’s house in Basavanahalli because he “has never asked for anything in his life”, but several others who are staying in relief centres also returned to their damaged houses to pick up the pieces.Many houses in Chamundeshwari Nagar in Madikeri, Udayguri, Makkandur, Haleri and other areas have been destroyed. Victims fear thieves looting their houses. In Chamundeshwari Nagar in Madikeri, there were reports of locked houses being broken into and valuables — gas cylinders too — being stolen.Nanda Kumar, a resident of Napoklu, who lost a paddy field and a coffee plantation, said, “Six families were working on my plantation and all of them along with family are in distress. After seeing my ravaged paddy field and coffee plantation, I feel like I have lost my relatives.”Umesh Uttappa, a local social activist, said most of the coffee growers in the area are small-time planters with between one and three acres of land. "They are not encroachers like some VVIPs,” he said. “They bought land with hard-earned money. Today, they have lost everything and are devastated.”The house of Vishnumurthy Bhat, a priest at the Aiyyapa Swamy temple in Kushalanagar, was submerged in the Cauvery river water for more than three days. "Everything is damaged. I left my wife at my relative's house. What else I can do?” he said.Nitesh, a BCA graduate who works as a trainee in a Bengaluru company, was in Madikeri on Tuesday to meet his parents who were at a relief camp. “In Bengaluru I stay in a PG so I can't shift my parents there. It’s disturbing to see my parents in this condition.”While many have lost houses and land, others fear loss of valuables such as cash and gold ornaments. Nanjunda, a plantation labourer from Kalur, who left his house on Thursday, said he has no clue about the condition of his rented house. "All the houses next to mine were buried in a landslide on Thursday morning and, as a precaution, I left my house with my family,” Nanjunda said. “Yesterday, the owner called me and said the house is partially safe. I am worried about documents like BPL card and the little gold jewellery that we have.”Raju, a resident of Napoklu, said his house is completely destroyed. "I have three acres of land and I hope to salvage it,” he said. "But if I lose the land too, then I have nothing left for a livelihood.”Rumors have added to the woes of locals. Sheshakiran, a resident of Galibeedu said he has been visiting his house everyday just to ensure everything is all right. "We were told that thieves are looting homes,” he said.

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