The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Horses turn a lifeline for tribals

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Thursday, Aug 13, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Horses turn a lifeline for tribals

Santosh Patnaik

The animals have remained the mainstay of tribals and are used for carrying crops, provisions and passengers

— Photo: K. R. Deepak

Dependable: A boy takes ponies laden with rice bags to a remote hamlet in Visakhapatnam district.

VISAKHAPATNAM: For the tribals living in inaccessible areas of the Visakha agency, horses have turned into a lifeline.

Horses have remained the mainstay of tribals and their population has grown over the years after Britons deployed them in the agency as part of the then tax collection system and to carry provisions required by them while camping in the tribal areas.

According to an estimate, the number of horses in the district will be around 20,000. No expenditure is involved for their grooming as they are left in the forests to graze like other cattle.

The horse owners charge around Rs.100 to Rs.300 per trip for carrying crops, provisions and passengers. “The rate depends on area, season and demand,” says Primitive Tribal Group Association secretary B. David.

Hundreds of horses are seen at the shandy held on Mondays at Pedabayalu. Horses are used for bringing turmeric, pulses and rajma for sale. The rajma sold at the shandy during season is valued at Rs.50 lakh to Rs.1 crore. Most of the primitive tribals belonging to Kondhu and Poraja and the well-off tribals from Bhagata and Kondadora communities own horses and eke out a living by letting out them on hire.

During Dasara festival, the tribals put some of their horses on sale at shandies to spend lavishly on booze and food. A healthy horse fetches them around Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 and tribals from neighbouring Orissa come in large numbers to the shandies to buy. Of late, the number of horses is decreasing due to improvement in communication facility with laying new roads, points out an official of Integrated Tribal Development Agency.

For anti-Maoist operations, the officials use horses in landmine vulnerable areas. For Indiramma scheme, they are engaged to transport iron and cement for construction of houses.

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