KALABURAGI: “What can we do? This heat has sapped us,” says Parvati of Bikku Naik tanda in Chincholi taluk at Kalaburagi, desperation writ on her face. “We have no option but to migrate.” Her family is one of the thousands who have given up hope of eking out a livelihood in the drought-hit districts of north Karnataka.
Rising mercury levels, water scarcity, lack of other means of livelihood and ineffectiveness of schemes like MGNREGS are driving thousands out of the northern districts of Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur, Vijayapura and Bagalkot. The districts are seeing temperatures hovering around 44° Celsius.
People are moving in search of greener pastures to cities like Bengaluru, Sholapur, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad over the past one month. While migration from northern districts during the leaner months is common and has been prevalent for generations, severe drought conditions are leading to permanent departure.
People are selling their cattle and property, with little intention of returning home. In many instances, farmers have left homes for long periods of time and not come back, even at the risk of losing their farmland.
Social analysts say there is also a question of pride. People are unwilling to work in local areas during the hard months as there is pride in saying that they are working in the ‘big city’ for higher wages. “The drought cripples farming and farm activities and the only alternate vocation for them is to move to the cities. However, ego prevents them from doing manual work locally and they prefer going the distance to far-off cities, where they can earn more,” says Prof R V Deshpande of Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC).
The migrating families have also been selling cattle at an alarming rate. Unable to provide fodder or water, farmers are selling them to butchers for throwaway prices. Official figures reveal there are 5.83 lakh cattle in Kalaburagi, but the district has only 10 cattle shelters. “As we have failed to provide them fodder, we are selling them,” says farmer Yallappa.
Thousands of men and women of Aland and Chincholi talukas and Lambani Tandas have already migrated. Aland has been one of the worst-hit areas in the entire State, with acute shortage of drinking water. That 183 villages of Kalaburagi district were getting drinking water only through tankers shows the severity of the crisis.
Even the ones left behind are seriously thinking of moving out. Sharanu of Madan Hipparga says they get 2-3 pots of water from tankers after waiting for more than three to four hours at a stretch. “We have to walk a long distance to get water from bore wells. The government is paying wages of `235 per day, that too only after a week. But in big cities we get paid not less than `400 per day,” he says. Construction work lures many migrants from the region. Dr N Sivanna from ISEC says that for small and marginal farmers, seeking employment in cities, especially in construction, is the only way they can sustain. “However, severe drought conditions mean that the men might not come back if the rains are not good,” he adds.
Sociologist Dr K G Gayathri Devi feels that despite higher earning capacity in the cities, 60 per cent of the migrants’ earnings are spent on medicines. “Despite everything, they do not enjoy good health. The men are now getting their families to the cities sooner for two reasons. One, the rise in sexually transmitted diseases, and second, the inability to consume rice. They like their staple diet of jowar and millets and need the women to cook. So, families are moving en masse to cities. Though they send back their children once school starts to derive the benefit of midday meals, often adolescent girls are not sent back and are made to work,” she says.
