Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, Aug 15: Five Koraga families, who have been subjected to utter neglect of the people, have been living in small tents made of plastic sheets on the river bank at Atrinje in Navara village under Sulkery gram panchayat limits. To reach these tents, one has to cross the river through a dangerous wooden log that serves as a bridge. This is a live example for the wretched condition of Koragas in the taluk.
These families too had dreamed of owning a house. They have migrated from place to place in the taluk, pitching tents there. However, for various reasons, the administrative machinery has readily kicked them out from each of these spots. Surprisingly, three of these families have not yet succeeded in getting ration cards. None of them have electoral identity cards. They have been deprived of civic amenities. As the families are driven by the burning desire to live on and build a good future for their children. With this aim, they have built tents in forest land on the river bank where their struggle with life is no ordinary. They are not aware how long will they be allowed to live here, and they live under constant fear of someone coming to evict them. They toil even to earn daily bread. Their plight looks strange, taking into account that successive governments have earmarked and spent hundreds of crores of rupees for the development of Koragas.
It has been a few months since these families made this place their home. One of these families had earlier been living at Naydaguri in Sulkery. They had been asked to stay there, assuring them that that site was reserved for being allotted to Koragas. Thereafter they were driven out. Another family, which was living in a tent by the roadside near Navoor came here with the hope that they would be given some land. All the families have similar stories to narrate.
Harish, and his wife, Harinakshi, Sandesh, Kamala and their four children, Tukudu and his two children, Pushpa and family, and Babu and family are the ones which have settled down in these tents. All these families are driven by the aim of providing good education to their children. They have admitted the children in different hostels to ensure that their education does not get affected. However, their efforts to find a secure future for their life have not succeeded.
These Koragas have approached every office and knocked at every door they could perceive of, in their determination to get a piece of land and roof on their heads. But they have not got anything in return. They had submitted applications seeking land and house from the government through their community association to the taluk social welfare department. The officials, instead of providing land or houses on their own, called village accountant of Kokrady village and asked him to show them the land. The village accountant led them directly to Mudipire in Sulkery village where they were asked to build houses inside the national park. All the five families had set up tents there as they were not aware that the land belonged to forest department.
Within a day, forest department officials reached there, and uprooted their tents. They became homeless and were driven to streets. From there they built their tents on the river bank in a spot which looks life forest. So far, no officials have approached them. As per information, this area has government land measuring five acres. These Koragas can carve out a future for them if this land is distributed to them. But unless someone takes the lead, they cannot hope to realize this dream. But who will take a lead is a question that has no answer as of now. The social welfare department has failed even to respond to their requests for ration cards and other facilities.
Reaching these five tents in itself is an arduous and adventurous task. As their tents are located on the riverbank, they have to cross the river either to go somewhere or to come back. For crossing the river, they have created a make-shift wooden bridge. Crossing this delicate bridge in itself poses a challenge, and children find it impossible to cross the bridge. Because of this problem, two children from these families have not attended school after monsoon season began. They plan to start attending school after rainy season.
Koraga woman, Harinakshi, says that they will be able to settle down and build a future if the government allots them land and help to build houses. She says that the families are committed to provide good education to children. She hopes that officials will at least lend an ear to their problems and meet their small demand.