Wada : A Siddi village in Haliyal taluk, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka
By Manjunath K. Shresthi
April 03, 2026
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Wada located 14 kms from Haliyal taluk lies in the interior on the Haliyal-Dandeli route. One reaches Wada via Kesarolli village, popularly known as Kesarolli cross amongst the locals. Amidst the verdant surroundings en route to Wada; one can see brick kilns; sugar cane crop on the plains and dense forest patches in the undulating terrain forming a picturesque background. After taking a left turn, there’s a dense forest patch to reach the village, which sits in the lap of nature in the western ghats.
“I cried before God for not having shoes to wear, till I met a man who had no legs”, this is the ugly reality of the less developed parts of India. In urban and semi-urban areas, people are used to a certain quality of life, which they take for granted. But same is not the case in rural areas, cut off from the mainstream and living a hard life each day. Antony Digekar: a social worker, a paralytic, and a former Panchayat member makes a long list of the facilities that the village still lacks. The villagers made a road for themselves in 1981-83, till they reached the nala. There was no direct motor able road to the village, and buses took a turn back on reaching the nala (stream). The villagers had to walk the remaining distance to reach their homes. The Wada-Agsalkatta/Garadoli bridge work commenced during corona and was recently completed in 2023.
The people of the Christian community form the majority of the households. The village was desolate and there were few people visible. The crops grown are sugar cane, paddy, maize and other pulses. The villagers expressed their anguish about the elephants destroying their standing crops. The other problem plaguing the villagers is the attack by other wild animals, and they’re ‘Bhagwan bharose (left to God’s will) without protection. Farmers and the residents are prohibited from even carrying small sickles and axes; as the forest department suspects them to stealing timber from the jungle. Wada has a school for the children, but it doesn’t have a arogya kendra and ration shop. They’ve to travel 15kms to Haliyal to get their stock of grain.
There are ‘No Mobile towers’ for connectivity and medical facilities’ in case of emergencies. A KSRTC bus comes twice in the day; once in the morning at 7 AM and in the evening at 5.30 PM. The villages close to Wada are Garadoli, Gadagera and Kyatangera. In Wada, there are lots of educated people and they’re working as school teachers, professors and in the military. Philip Antony Siddi, another famous resident of Wada who retired from the BSF. He was the athlete who ran 800-1500 metres and set a national record in the IX Asian Games held in Delhi in 1982.
