Clean Drinking Water Challenges for Soliga Tribe in Karnataka

Description

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Context:

The issue of clean drinking water remains a major challenge for the tribal communities in Chamarajanagar district, especially in the villages inhabited by the Soliga tribes.

About Soliga Tribe:

Aspect	Details
Location	Mountain ranges in Chamarajanagar district, southern Karnataka, and Erode district, Tamil Nadu; concentrated in Biligiriranga Hills and associated ranges
Talukas	Yelandur, Kollegal, and Chamarajanagar in Karnataka
Population	Around 40,000. The term "Soliga" meaning translates to "children of bamboo"
Language	Sholaga (Soliganudi), a Dravidian language closely related to Kannada, with Tamil influences
Scheduled Tribe	Recognized under Indian law as a Scheduled Tribe
Origin	Traced to Karayya, son of Lord Maleya Mahadeshwara Swamy of Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills, Karnataka
Sub-groups	Male Soliga (Kannada speakers in Karnataka) Urali Soliga (Kannada and Tamil speakers in border areas) Pujari group (Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills) Kadu Soliga (near Bandipur Forest) Burude Soliga (Heggadadevanakote Taluk and Kodagu)
Occupation	Formerly shifting cultivation; now harvesting Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) like honey, gooseberry, bamboo, lichen, wild turmeric, etc.
NTFP Harvesting	Main source of income; includes honey, nellikai (gooseberry), bamboo, Paasi (lichen), wild turmeric, soapnut, etc.
Mainstreaming Efforts	Government and NGO initiatives; many Soliga have been relocated to lands near "civilized areas" and formed into clusters called Podus.
Forest Rights	Reside in areas protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (Biligiriranga Hills, Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Bandipur). They are the first tribal community living inside the core area of a tiger reserve in India (Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve)
Religion	Follow naturism, animism, and Hindu practices; main deities include Madeshwara, Rangaswamy, Karayya, Kyate Devaru, and Jadeswamy. They believe in coexisting and have indigenous ways of using nature to make unique utility products, such as the ‘jottai’, which is a cup made out of leaves.
Other Deities	Madeshwara, Basaveshwara, Nanjundeshwara, Sri Alamelu Ranganayaki, Sri Hanuman

What is Naturism and Animism?

Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism.

Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will. Animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions.

Source:

HANS INDIA

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.It is an ethnic group of India. Its members inhabit the mountain ranges mostly in the Chamarajanagar district of southern Karnataka and Erode district of Tamil Nadu. The tribe trace their origin to Karayya, son of Lord Maleya Mahadeshwara, swamy of Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills, Karnataka. They used to practice shifting cultivation, but have more or less given up this practice now. Their main source of income is harvesting and sale of Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFP) like honey, nellikai.

The above-given passage is related to which among the following tribes?

(a) Yerava

(b) Kurumbas

(d) Soliga

Answer: d

Explanation:

The Soligas are popularly known as Soliga/Sholiga/Soligaru. Their main area of habitat is in the Chamarajangara district of Karnataka. The Soliga population is concentrated in and around the forest areas of Biligiri Rangana Hills and Male Mahadeshwara Hills of Yelanduru and Kollegala taluks of Chamarajangara district and also in the Mysore district and in the neighboring areas of Tamilnadu. Few minor sections of the community have spread over the other districts of Karnataka. According to 2011 Census, population of Soliga is about 33,871 in Karnataka and 5,965 in Tamilnadu. Their settlements are known as ‘haaDi’ and ‘pooDu’.