Seven-km kutcha road laid between Ponnalabailu and Naritadakala by pooling savings

Fed up with officials turning a deaf ear to their demand for a motorable road for decades, tribals inhabiting remote habitations in the Nallamala hills in Prakasam district have themselves made a kutcha road through the hills to take the sick and needy people to hospital.

Remote ‘Chenchugudems’ like Nekkanti, Gutlachenu, Naritdakala and Ponnalabailu in Prakasam district have practically remained cut off from the rest of the district for long. Officials visit these places once in five years, and that too by helicopters, for conducting elections. The candidates refrain from visiting the hamlets for canvassing votes in the absence of a motorable road.

A road to these remote places had long been a mirage as the tribals inhabit with wild animals, including the big cats, in the forests forming part of the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve, a notified sanctuary.

Thanks to the enactment of Recognition of Forest Rights Act, the Sugali and Chenchu tribals are now able to earn some decent income from their land in recent years. With the savings generated, the tribals decided to collect about ₹2,000 per household for laying a road. They used to carry the sick on a dolly in difficult terrain to Yerragondapalem for treatment.

“With more than ₹3 lakh pooled, we have developed a the seven-km kutcha road between Ponnalabailu and Naritdakala this year,” say a group of tribals in a conversation with a correspondent of The Hindu who visited their habitations.

“We planned to develop another stretch of road later this year or early next year by surviving on just the ration rice provided by the State Government,” they add.

“Our worry is that the road will get washed away during the rainy season, forcing us to relay it once again next year,” says Chandu Naik, who lost his pregnant daughter as she could not be moved to a hospital in Yerragondapalem in time.

“Can’t move out”

The Forest Department wants the tribals to move out of the forests to rehabilitation colonies set up near Yerragondapalem, says Ganjivaripalli Forest Range Officer G. Venkateswarlu. However, those living in the ‘Chenchugudems’ in Polutla and its surroundings have ruled out moving out of their habitations.

“We can earn a decent living from the land given under the ROFR Act only in the forests. We will not be able to live with dignity if we move out of our habitations,” they maintain.