The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tribal habitation wears desolate look

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Monday, Sep 20, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tribal habitation wears desolate look

By G.Nagaraja

LAKSHMIPURAM (WEST GODAVARI DT.), SEPT. 19. Gloom has descended on this tiny tribal habitation tucked away in the agency of Buttayagudem mandal in West Godavari district, as the Kovvada Kalva Reservoir in the vicinity is getting spruced up for inauguration by the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Feverish activity at the dam site on the eve of the Chief Minister's visit, probably in the last week of September, hardly cheers the Adivasi habitation comprising over 60 families of the Nayakapodu tribe. Instead, the camping of engineering personnel of the Irrigation Department at the site, giving finishing touches to the dam, presents a forlorn picture for the inhabitants. Located in the foreshore of the reservoir, the fate of the age-old Adivasi habitation appears to be precariously hanging in the balance.

Boon for agency?

The dam built across the Kovvada and Poletivagu streams at a cost of over Rs 50 crores is billed as a boon for the agency and upland parts in the district. For the Nayakapodus, however, it appears to be a monster poised to engulf their village.

``We are quite afraid of the safety of our village. But they (officials) say there is nothing to worry on the plea that our village does not fall under the purview of submerged areas,'' says Kusine Venkateswara Rao of Lakshmipuram. The Kondareddis of the adjacent Reddigudem are rather lucky, unlike those of Lakshmipuram. All the Kondareddi families are being shifted from Reddigudem and relocated at a colony built by the administration as part of a relief and rehabilitation package.

Assurance of official

``The village (Lakshmipuram), located at a height of 94 metres of the reservoir contour will not be submerged in view of the dam whose full reservoir level is fixed at 90.50 metres. However, we have forwarded a memorandum submitted by the residents of Lakshmipuram expressing their fears vis-a-vis the safety of their village, to our higher-ups for consideration,'' maintains K. Venkateswara Rao, Superintending Engineer (Projects) of the Irrigation Department.

The CPI(M) Lok Sabha member from Bhadrachalam, Midiyam Babu Rao, who visited Lakshmipuram, has urged the official machinery to view the plight of the project-affected persons beyond the frame of technicalities.

"It may be technically true that Lakshmipuram is not submerged by the flood waters as stated by the authorities. But, in practice, the habitation located in between the two streams, upon which the dam is built, is set to become an island and cut off from the outside world and the forests, raising serious livelihood concerns for the forest-dependent community,'' the MP told The Hindu .

``We don't believe in this official machinery. The officials will simply disappear from the dam site after its inauguration. That is why we are insisting on a joint survey, involving the officials and the experts appointed by tribals, to steer clear of our apprehensions. Until then we won't allow the dam's inauguration,'' states G. Anil Kumar, a tribal himself and convener of the Kovvada Reservoir Badhitula (victims) Committee.

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