MADIKERI: Broken huts, bed sheets as walls for bathrooms, lack of electricity, and hopeless life – this is the scenario of a tribal settlement nestled in the Aanekadu area of Kodagu. The residents of the settlement are devoid of all the facilities including education, health facilities, and free ration.
The ‘Jenu Kuruba’ tribes have been residents of this settlement for over six decades now. Nothing has changed in this settlement for ages as the tribes here still lead a life that reminds one of a bygone era. The settlement has over fifty residents including toddlers and children. A few men from the settlement work as mahouts in the Dubare elephant camp and some as caretakers of the tamed elephants. While they care for and nurture the elephants owned by the forest department, the people themselves are neglected and ignored.
The settlement has toddlers and children aged between 5 and 11 like Krithika, Krithimani, Poornamma, Shravani – who have never stepped into a school or known education. These kids spend their time in the forests, picking firewood and playfully climbing trees. The residents do not receive any assistance under the ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Project) department and are leading a miserable life with worst living conditions.
“I have lived here since birth and nothing has changed since then. We do not have ration cards. But we have Aadhar and voter IDs as, during elections, we are taken to the Dubare voting centers to cast our votes. We are unsure of whom to approach to avail facilities,” said 58-year-old Shanthi, one of the residents of the settlement. Shanthi is the caretaker of two young toddlers – the children of her daughter who passed away due to unknown health issues post the delivery of her second child. The settlement does not have a single toilet facility. At a few places, bed sheets have been spread across to provide cover for bathing activities.