Vexed Tribes Lay Road by Themselves

Advocacy to the government repeatedly would have been ignored.

The tribes of the hamlet of Jajulabandha in the Visakhapatnam Agency made the decision to construct a 13 km “kutcha” road between their village and the closest all-weather road after becoming frustrated by the governments’ and successive officials’ disregard for their calls for the construction of a road to their village over the years.

The laying of the road to Kutcha, which was resumed over four months ago, is virtually finished. The tribal members have been leaving their homes at the crack of dawn every day for the past hundred or so days with crowbars, axes, and other instruments to remove the jungle and make the terrain more level.

The village of Arla de Rolugunta mandal and Jajulabandha de Koyyuru mandal are connected by this road. Additionally, it offers connectivity to the towns of Peda Garuvu and Pithrigedda.

“We have been requesting that a road be built for a number of years, but no government has cared to act on our request. A medical emergency makes going to the hospital a nightmare. Even getting rations is a challenge for us. According to Korra Rajababu from the village of Jajulabandha, the absence of adequate road infrastructure makes it difficult to take advantage of numerous government initiatives.

“The state government invests millions of rupees in programmes that benefit those who are economically and socially disadvantaged. But if the benefits do not reach the intended recipients, what is the point? Some of the far-flung tribal areas are where this is happening, he said.

According to K. Govinda Rao of Girijan Sangham, “the tribes, mostly women and young people, cleared the bushes and trees over an area of 7 km, while an earthmoving machine was sent to dig and level the land for the laying of the road which spans two hills.”

Each tribe household paid 2,000 for the hiring of the digger, he claimed.

The tribal people anticipate the government building a pucca road to their community soon.