Entire villages on exodus due to drought

Severe drought has forced people in interior villages of Bellary to take to exodus Villages are deserted as entire population has left home looking for jobs Exodus towards southern districts like Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Madikeri etc

Severe drought has forced people in interior villages of Bellary to take to exodus in search of livelihood. Villagers from Kudligi taluk Linganahalli, Srikanthapura, Appenahalli, Amaradevara Gudda, Bandebasapura Tanda and other villages are looking deserted these days as entire population has left the drought-hit home land looking for jobs elsewhere. It was a pathetic sight to see women, youth, children, old get into six lorries with whatever they could manage to tie up in cloth sacks. Only the very old and sick are left behind and their fate is unsure till their family returns, reports Kannada Prabha.

From the hot bed of Bellary they are going towards southern Karnataka districts like Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Madikeri, Chamarajanagara, Chikkamagaluru and other places. Some people even go to Tamil Nadu. The Tanda people work in coffee estates in Malnad and in sugarcane farms. There has been a long history of agents using them and cheating on their wages but the drought has forced them to yet again go for the same as they have no other alternative.  The State and the central governments need to attend to their plight.