Andhra Pradesh   

Tribals caught in the grip of thirst

Photo G. N. Rao

Quenching their thirst: Tribal women collecting water from a shallow well in Vararamachandrapuram village of Bhadrachalam division. —

KHAMMAM: With many of the forest streams going dry, tribal communities have been caught in the grip of thirst. It is more so with the residents of the unauthorised settlements that have sprung up newly in the reserve forest because of the steady influx of tribes displaced in the neighbouring pockets of Bastar region.

The scarcity conditions are forcing them to dig shallow wells in the dried streams and collect water to quench their thirst. Women from the new settlements are trekking long distance to fetch water. As these settlements have come up in forest encroachments, the administration is also finding it difficult to reach such communities.

In Sunnammatka, a new habitation with a good number of tribal families- all migrated from Bastar more than one year ago escaping from the wrath of Salva Judum activists, dinking water has become a serious problem. The tribal families that have been dinking water from the unclean forest sources had become vulnerable to water-borne diseases.

Vanja Kannaiah, one of the residents, says: “We pray god as well as the god-like officials just for water to quench our thirst. The koya tribes living in the vicinity were kind enough to share drinking water with us. But walking miles in the harsh sun for water is a tough task.” Some 20 families which had built a new settlement in Tepadu in Chintoor mandal have dug up a well on their own. But as the mercury started soaring, the well began to dry up. Similar habitations at Kottaraingala and Sarivela kotturu are also in for acute water problem.

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