DEVADURGA/RAICHUR: A few parts of the country can take you back in time, albeit not in a good way. Sannabattaradoddi hamlet in Devadurga is one such place. Even after 70 years of Independence, the villagers here continue to live without electricity, clean drinking water and transportation facilities.
On arriving at the taluk, one is greeted by 66-year-old Mallayya. He greets every stranger with gusto, laced with hope. A hope that visitors may help bring electricity to around 150 houses here. On seeing this reporter, Mallayya innocently asked, “When will we have electricity and pure drinking water? Are you here to bring electricity to my people?”
Electricity has been a promise long ago to the villagers, when they gave up thousands of acres for two power grids - The Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) and Yermarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS) - run by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). Ironically, these stations in their backyard produce close to 40 per cent of power for the state. When the grids were being laid and farm lands surrendered, residents here were promised uninterrupted power supply.
Deramma, another villager, said, “The only light we see here is during the day. After dusk, it is pitch dark. Lamps are our only source of light.” Deramma recently gave birth to a child after travelling over 8km in a bullock cart to the nearest primary health centre.
Cart would have been her only option since there is no tarred road into which a motor vehicle can steer. With elections around the corner, a mud road was laid here a month ago.
Under Ganga Kalyana Scheme, there is an electricity connection to borewell that was sunk for drinking water purpose. However, pure drinking water remains a distant dream for a population of over 400.
There is only one primary school here and the teacher has to walk 6km to take classes. Villagers say the teacher often skips school because of the distance. “Health and education are not for my people. They are only for the rich,” Mallayya rued.
However, the villagers said that they always cast their vote, hoping that one day power lines will be drawn here. “We walk at least 6km to the polling booth to vote. Unless we vote, how can we expect power and other basic facilities?” a villager asked.
Power politics in Mallapur
At Mallapur Tanda, another hamlet, power has become a prominent political issue. Vijay Rathod, a villager, said, “Enough is enough. All the political party candidates during the elections visit us and assure electricity connection. But nothing has been done to materialise it. Over 500 people are living in this region and our only means of transport is motorbikes and bullock carts. There is no bus facility either.”
“During the last elections, the incumbent BJP MLA Shivanagouda Nayak had promised to provide electricity. Forget electricity, he hasn’t even bothered to visit us in the last five years. This time, we have decided not to vote for him. Another sad part is that the candidates from all three parties - Congress, BJP, JD(S) - are from the influential Arekere family. We are fed up of this dynasty politics. This time, we want to choose independent candidate Kariyamma. She looks promising,” he added.
In Sannabattaradoddi, basic facilities like pure drinking water, transportation, health facility, access to food grains is out of reach. A villager said, “It has been 70 years since we got independence yet, we are still living without basic facilities.”
At Harijanawada in Konachappali, 50 houses do not have electricity. However, the houses belonging to the scheduled tribes have power connection. The schedule caste community is still waiting for the power lines. The MLA has promised them to provide electricity, if voted to power.