Hubli: A tale of 3 borewells and a suicide

TUMKUR: Like any father all that Balappa, 55, a farmer of Kuntanahatti village in Sira taluk, wanted was a secure future for his children. Balappa had dreams of growing coconut and arecanut. With monsoon playing truant, his dream seemed unlikely to materialize. Not one to be deterred, he decided to sink a borewell. The first one failed. So did the second.
He then dug a third one. When it, too, failed to yield any water, a dejected Balappa committed suicide leaving his family with a debt of over Rs 2 lakh and three acres of dry land. Balappa’s grieving wife Muddamma and five children, two sons and three daughters, are now saddled with a loan they have no idea how to clear. Along with growing groundnut on his land, Balappa's family also reared sheep. He got three of his daughters married. His sons, Kariyappa and Rajanna, used to help him rear the 50 sheep the family owns.
The income was insufficient to run his household. Balappa's concern was the marriage prospectus of his two sons and their future. Against the advice of family and friends, he decided to irrigate his farm, but failed as the groundwater table in the entire region has depleted.Muddamma told STOI: “It was his dream to irrigate our dry land. We advised him against drilling a borewell. He was adamant. After the first one, we begged him not to try again. He wanted to secure our children's future and thought arecaunut and coconut would help in the long run. We haven't received proper rain for the past four years. There is no fodder for our sheep.'' Balappa’s elder son Kariyappa said: ``It would have helped if we had purchased some more sheep than drilling borewells.''Sira taluk has been reeling under drought for the past three years. Water is not available even at 1,200 or 1,500 ft. And to make matters worse, the taluk has no permanent source for drinking water.