Belthangady: Bollywood movies depict love stories where youth cross borders risking their lives to fall in love with their loved ones. The climax in the saga may end in tragedy or may be one of triumph over adversity. Longing for the loved one erases the scars of violence during and after partition, down plays the religious affiliation and only the struggle to ‘touch’ the loved one endures.
In village Kolody of Belthangady taluk the scenario is different as prospective brides and grooms prefer to remain single as none are inclined to marry, simply because Kolody remains isolated. Youth say no to marriage well in advance as they are not willing to face the hardships associated with living in a hilly village, leave alone the roller coaster ride in married lives. Seven decades of independence has not changed the life in the village which reminds one of the bygone eras. This is not the only village in the taluk as many reports have appeared in the recent past where even the superintendent of police of Dakshina Kannada and the Deputy commissioner visited isolated areas to get a firsthand experience of the difficulties faced by people in those areas using skills acquired by them before occupying the top official positions in the Government.
After 1971, around 71 tribal families escaped from the clutches of land lords to own a piece of land to live on their own. Undeterred by hardships they started growing rubber, coconuts, pepper and banana in the small strip of land they owned to eke a living. Situated at a height of 2100 feet above sea level, Kolody village is amongst the hills in the region with no proper roads and bridges.
Located at a distance of 30 kms from Belthangadiy, it is a dawn to dusk adventurous journey to reach Kolody and return. After passing through villages of Neriya and Aniyur, one can get a glimpse of Malekudiya tribal habitat situated in inhospitable conditions. Once ruled by landlords, these tribal families are free today from bondage, but their freedom has not set them free from innumerable difficulties. Few years ago, Paulose from Seon ashram fought relentlessly on their behalf and succeeded in getting a few acres of land for them. The entire fenced colony is free from bonded labour since 1997, but property rights are still a distant dream for families living here.
If one is deprived of title deeds, then getting bank loans is ruled out. They have to sustain on the little earning from farming and stick to labour jobs in the vicinity. In the recent past, SKDRDP has provided them with financial assistance which has given them some relief.
It’s a herculean task to reach villages like Kolna, Ettaradka, Kulaithodu, Pelattaje, Naganakatte, Panethakumeru, Kuntyana, Peraje and Pullaje around Kolody. Only well maintained jeeps reach most of the inaccessible areas. During rainy season, problems multiply as most areas remain inundated. Students walk kilometers together to reach schools and to the nearest bus stop, it takes an hour’s walk from the village. If one has to reach the nearest town during dawn, then the journey begins during the wee hours whereas the alternate mode of transport costs Rs 700 for one way ride. If one is planning to construct a small dwelling, then he has to be prepared to shell out Rs 70 for each red brick!
During rainy season, villagers construct their own bridges using logs like Indian army. Pregnant women and patients risk their lives even before they reach the hospitals to heave a sigh of relief. Few houses are provided with lighting using hydro bulbs where as rest of the families are deprived of electricity. Electric lines were drawn to the village under Rajiv Gandhi village electrification scheme by the government, but the village lighting remains a distant dream.
Normally, tribal youth find soul mates early in their lives, but here, around 50 youth have not found their life partners till date. None of them are willing to face the hardships after marriage. Most prefer to remain as singles, which many consider as another societal problem.
Few tribals live in bamboo shacks where as the rest are not inclined to construct a strong dwelling despite financial assistance from Neriya gram panchyat considering raw material and transportation costs.
Since Kolady remains inaccessible, even the food distribution under PDS for ration card holders is done by mobile vans. Mobile vans reach the distribution point which is 3 kilometers from their place of dwelling. The villagers cover the distance by foot ignoring their other daily engagements to take food items promptly on 7th of every month. If they fail to collect their quota of rice, sugar, kerosene, wheat, and palm oil on that day, their problems are bound to increase. Tribal people are seen lining up to collect their ration every month before the van arrives.
Assurance given by DC AB Ibrahim in 2015 never materialized as many felt it was a mere picnic with the official team. Recently transferred ZP CEO Srividya failed to provide relief, say residents. However, one can see few water pipes hidden under soil to provide evidence for the development works taken up by the government over the years.
The village facing innumerable problems fortunately has no water problems as villagers have made their own arrangements by drawing water from nearby streams for drinking purpose using pipelines. They revolted against the landlords by dismantling metal gates many years ago when the landlords blocked their way.
Villagers’ views
Sudhakar, a GP member from Kolody village said, efforts are being made to provide road connectivity under ‘our village, our road scheme’ of the government. Under Deendayal electrification scheme, houses are provided with electric connections, but he admitted that building new houses is difficult as the occupants do not have title deeds for the land they own.
“We are still dreaming of better living conditions and infrastructure, though there is no significant improvement in the ground situation,” said Keshave from Kolna. Further he said, “It is painful to see our children struggling to get educated and married. If government had provided road connectivity, most of our problems would have been solved by now”.
Thousand of nature lovers including romantic couples and trekkers enjoy the natural surroundings around the village every year and fall in love with the place during their visit, never to return again, feel many residents. They simply meant, heavenly experience for tourists is actually hellish living for all those in Kolody.
