Finally, 528 Diddalli tribals to get homes at Bedagudda

Mysuru: To the relief of the tribals, who had deserted plantations in Kodagu, where they were allegedly treated as bonded labourers, the  government has finally come out with a plan to rehabilitate them at a cost of over 38.22 crore.

The 528 tribal families, who had fled to the reserve forests of Diddalli only to be evicted later and moved to Bedagudda and Basavanahalli last month, will now get all the facilities they need while they await the houses and sites promised by the government.

Social Welfare secretary  P. Manivannan, who visited Bedagudda and Basavanahalli  last Monday, took the district officers of Kodagu to task for relocating the tribals without providing them even basic amenities.

To begin with Mr Manivannan has directed officers to supply electricity to the two locations they have been moved to, and provide them streetlights and a water distribution network by June 15.

He wants  temporary shelters, one toilet per  family,  one waste bin for two families, a washing area for clothes,  a sewage treatment plant, soak pits,  roads,  layouts, and new angawadis in place by the end of the month, and two overhead water tanks built by  July 15.

In addition, he has instructed the officers  to hold health camps once a week and make sure the tribals have voter IDs, ration cards, caste certificates, and Aadhaar cards by the month end.

The officials have  been told to provide the tribals rations till August and begin construction of houses for them at the earliest.

Kodagu Deputy Commissioner, Richard Vincent D Souza said  that three layouts, two  on 14 acres of land in Bedagudda for 347 families, and one  on seven acres of land in Basavanahalli for 181 families, each at a cost of Rs 5.7 crore, would be developed.

“Each family will be given a 30 x 30 site, and houses will be built at a cost of Rs4 lakh each,” he added.