Mercury rises: Huge exodus of people from North Karnataka has begun

Bengaluru, April 18: Everyday one witnesses a batch of people getting off a train at the Bengaluru railway station. With their faces fallen and thoughts parched, these people from North Karnataka have come to the city in search of jobs and more importantly water.

The mercury in North Karnataka is rising and the highest recorded temperature in recent days has been 44 degree Celsius. Some will stay on in Bengaluru until the mercury cools down back home while others will proceed to Mysore in search of jobs.

The situation is not getting any better and there seems to be no respite from the heat. Water at Rs 10 per pot is out of the question for these people who barely earn Rs 50 or Rs 100 per day.

Migration hits North Karnataka

We waited enough they say. We have sold our cattle as it is impossible to manage over there says Sanappa who landed in the city on Sunday along with his wife and four daughters.

"If we continued to stay there we would have died and there is no respite from the heat. I would not blame anyone for this but fate. We have faced this year after year, but this time around it is bad," he also said.

While one batch of people have come to Bengaluru, there is another set of people who are on their way to Mysore. Some have even gone to Mumbai in search of jobs.

The highest number of migration is from Aland in North Karnataka which has faced the worst possible situation. Forget shortage, there is no drinking water over there.

The districts in Kalaburgi have also witnessed a high exodus of people. The only source of water here is the one that is provided through tankers. While the government tankers are able to provide waters only to 180 villages, the rest are dependant on private operators who charge exhorbitantly for water.

Money matters now

Cultivating the fields is out of the question. The people are not even sure of how strong the monsoon would be. If the monsoon fails then none of them propose on returning.

In the cities, these people can earn anything between Rs 300 and Rs 400 per day. Most of them have landed up at construction sites. However construction companies too are finding it hard to accommodate so many people. The sites are clearly overstaffed now due to this exodus.

These unfortunate people however are not interested in staying away from their homes for too long. We have our own fields back home and were self sufficient. We just hope to save enough money so that we can go back home and begin cultivating our fields they say.

However all that would depend on the monsoon. If the monsoon fails, then there is no question of getting back for them. Let us pray that the rain gods are merciful on these people.

OneIndia News