Daijiworld Media Network - Belagavi (MS) 

Belagavi, Jul 26: Going to school is a herculean task for the children of Chapoli, Kapoli and Mudgai villages lying in the forest area of Khanapur in the district. 

There is no bus facility for the nearest school at Jamboti. The children have no other choice but tread the 24 kilometers distance to school by foot. During rainy season, their difficulty increases because of the formation of sludge on the way. On many occasions, the forest department personnel drop them to school on their patrol vehicles. 

Khanapur forest area is inhabited by various species of insects, birds and animals. The conflict between man and animal is going on in this area for a long time. There are examples of animals like cheetah, bear and other forest animals attacking the villagers. The villagers of Chapoli, Kapoli, Mudgai, Varakad-Pathey and Amgaon are demanding for basic infrastructures like road, electricity, education for their children and health service since many years. 

Venkat Patil, a resident of Chapoli says, "We had boycotted the recently held Lok Sabha elections in order to draw the attention of the government towards our issues. But it seems our protest has fallen on deaf ears. When there is heavy rain, the road that leads to Chapoli village becomes unusable. Because of the same problem, the KSRTC buses do not come to our village." 

There is a junior primary school from first standard to fifth standard in Chapoli. However, if the children have to learn from sixth to tenth standard, they have to walk a distance of 12 km to Jamboti. 

The High Court, on December 24, 2014, had directed the state government to provide basic infrastructure to the people of 20 villages of Khanapur forest region. But the same is not executed by the government till now.