Adiveppa Chalavadi (75) has spent a good share of his life farming in his three-acre ancestral land in Badami taluk.
He knows only farming and has never been to school. He has seen several governments and MLAs promising irrigation for Badami.
But even today, his small farm gets water only from rain, that too if Mother Nature show some sympathy on the farmers, else the farm goes dry. Cultivating groundnuts, the amount earned from it has barely helped him meet both ends.
About eight kilometres from his field, two tourist guides, Shivananda Sullad and Prasanna Magali, both in their forties, waits anxiously for tourists at the historic cave temples of Menabasadi.
When the diesel auto drops some visitors at the entrance gate, two of them pray fervently that the visitors would come to seek information from them, and in the end pay some money.
“This is how we have spent over 15 years as tourist guides here. The life and earning has always been unpredictable. People say tourist destinations give tremendous employment, but this magnificent Badami, as I see, has produced only around 20 tourists guides and few hundred autorickshaws for visitors”, he said.
With countless vehicles moving on the main road connecting the central bus stand, the dust never settles down as the widening of the road is under way.
On either sides of roads are narrow passages leading to streets where women could be seen washing clothes or fetching drinking water from public taps.
Water supply
With the town literally having no surface water facility, it essentially depends on borewells.
“For decades, we have been hearing about a canal system to be developed for bringing water from Malaprabha river and Mahadayi project which will benefit Badami. But these projects have found more place in newspapers and little in reality”, said veteran activist Ishtalinga Sirsi.
He said that at least filling up around 50 small and medium tanks including the biggest Kendur tank would help extensively in supplying drinking water and increasing ground water level which has dipped to over 500 ft. from 150 ft. over the years.
Mr. Sirsi says that Almatti backwaters is just about 40 km away from the taluk, and it could be brought here to fill up the tanks.
While irrigation and drinking water facility has still remained a pipedream for the people here, efforts to tap the tourism potential have proved meagre. The Tourism Plaza project which was announced for giving a boost to the tourism sector is also limping, say the residents.
Another ambitious project, establishment of Lalit Kala University, never took off. The project was announced in the budget by former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar during the BJP government.
Weavers’ plight
While Badami taluk and town are eagerly awaiting for irrigation and projects to boost the tourism sector, weavers of Guledgudda village, located about 20 km from Badami, are also anxious about their future.
Known for their handloom works, this traditional occupation is on the decline because of lack of support from the government.
Since majority of the weavers still use handloom, they are unable to meet the increasing demand. At the same time, with no financial aid for purchasing powerlooms, the weavers are forced to continue with traditional methods.
Amid all these burning issues, the taluk has gained significance after two political giants, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Minister B. Sriramulu taking each other head-on in the election on behalf of the Congress and BJP respectively.
While a majority are hopeful that if Mr. Siddaramaiah wins, he would bring considerable change in the lives of the people here, some still have doubts. They think the election is only for their political survival and not for the development of Badami.
