If parents in this Karnataka village want to send their children to an Anganwadi centre, they have to walk at least four kilometres through the forests. Children in primary school walk the distance every day to reach their school in the neighbouring village, which is part of the neighbouring district.
This is the plight of people residing at Belagalu village located on the borders of Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts. The village, with a population of 70 people on the backwaters of the Tunga Dam (Gajanur), is part of Shivamogga taluk, while the school in which the children have been admitted is located at Korala Koppa village in N.R. Pura taluk of Chikkamagaluru district.
“I was born here and hardly went out of the village all these years. Life has by and large, remained the same since my childhood,” said Kundramma, a senior citizen of the village, probably in her 70s.
