The village is surrounded by earth dug up on all sides. Each board, bench, desk and building is thickly coated with dust. Every house draws a red rangoli or two, while areca and coconut plantations seem to groan under the weight of the choking dust. Remarkably, the ore-laden lorries that rule this village’s roads are not at all bothered by these things!

Bheemasamudra in Chitradurga district presents a pathetic picture, to say the least, all within one year. Bheemasamudra is famous for its areca crop. Now, manganese seems to have substituted areca! The townspeople are now strangers to their land, water and roads. Excavators are busy in fields and agriculture workers are busy working in the mine shafts. The shops and commercial establishments have already gone into others’ hands. Children are hardly to be seen on the roads. Famous for its areca business, hills and meadows as well as political acumen, Bheemasamudra is losing its fame to mining.

Cultivating areca, setting up the areca cultivators’ association and subsequent establishment of CAMPCO have all made Bheemasamudra a major areca business hub. But now, the same areca cultivators have been lured by mining. The village which had displayed sound political sense once upon a time, is residence of a member of Parliament as well as a member of the Legislative Council.

Twenty kilometres away from Chitradurga city, Bheemasamudra was once known as Holatihalu. One Bichugatti Bharamanna Nayaka built a tank and constructed the Bheemeshwara temple atop the tank bund, renaming the place as Bheemasamudra in 1706. The Bheemasamudra Tank is among the largest tanks in the district. Areca and coconut are the main crops while there are manganese mines as well. The village has a co-operative bank, four Stree Shakti self-help groups, a ration shop and a library each along with 280 telephone connections. A windmill set upon a hill has put the village on the wind power generation map. The then President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was scheduled to inaugurate his pet PURA project at Bheemasamudra, but couldn’t come in the last moment; the project is but half-complete here.

A few mining companies discovered mineral deposits in Bheemasamudra some years ago and have since obtained permit and conducted mining operations. Now, it is the turn of Bellary-based mine owners. After buying farmland, the companies are mining ore in untold quantities. The land prices have increased with each acre valued at Rs 10 lakh. Some farmers have themselves begun mining their land. According to the district Mines and Geology Department official Mahesh, more than ten mining companies have set up shop here within the last one year.

“People have money, but no peace.” These words by Umapati, an old resident of the village, indicate the negative impact of mining. The farmers of the village have not grown maize or ragi for the past one year. The yield of areca and coconut has come down and there are no takers for vegetables grown here. At the same time, two dhabas and three hotels have sprung up in the middle of the village; a second petrol bunk is also coming up. Women - young and old - find it increasingly difficult to walk on the roads, thanks to relentless eve-teasing by cleaners and lorry drivers.

Recently, when a lorry ran over a school boy, injuring him in the leg, the driver arrogantly told the people to settle their claim with the insurance company! Doctors at the primary health centre are concerned over the increase in the number of asthma patients while the poor people themselves are wary of confronting those for whom money is not an issue at all.

Meanwhile, mine worker Honnuraiah is happy that he has made more money working in the mine than by growing ragi or jowar. Farmer Manjunath is into mining, happy with the extra income which was not forthcoming with crops fetching low prices. According to Mallesh, around 2,500 to 3,000 lorries ply on the village road daily, not bothering to adhere to the time and weight limits. Officials have seized 10,000 metric tonnes of illegally mined ore in the last three months!

With Deputy Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas, who’s also the chairman of the district task force, passing strict orders, illegal mining has come under check to a certain extent. At the same time, MP G M Siddeshwar is of the opinion that the Bheemasamudra arecanut has not lost its flavour, while he also admits to problems surfacing after outsiders began mining here.

MLC B T Channabasappa also feels that the prestige of the village has suffered and goes on to say that he himself is not aware of all that is taking place in the area. “Around 200 to 300 Qualis-type vehicles come to our village daily. I received threatening letters purportedly written by Naxals some months back. All sorts of activities are taking place in the name of mining. We have put some pressure on the district administration to take some action,” he says.

While G S Manjunath, who recently joined the BJP says, the village has earned notoriety and mining companies are creating problems by exceeding their brief. “The village tank is full of silt, thanks to mining. We are trying to regulate these activities through the cooperative society,” he says. But alas! Bheemasamudra has now been transformed into a furnace.

Translated by B S Srivani