Endless wait for tribals of Neredubanda for a motorable road to their village

Endless wait for road in Neredubanda hilltop village, tribal people carry sick in 'dolis', urgent need for road construction.

It seems like an endless wait for the tribal people of Neredubanda hilltop village of Ravikamatham mandal in Anakapalli district for the laying of a road to save them from the trouble of carrying pregnant women and sick persons in ‘dolis’, trekking over difficult terrain, to the nearest road point.

Neredubanda, has a population of 80 people belonging to ‘Kondh’, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). On Wednesday, a tribal seed festival was held at Neredubanda. Marri Babu of Pedalanka village of GK Veedhi mandal reached Z. Jogumpeta to visit his in-laws at Neredubanda. In the absence of a road, he was trekking up the pathway to the hilltop village, when he fell unconscious. On getting information, his in-laws rushed to the spot and took him in a ‘doli’ to the hilltop. His condition improved later in the evening on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, he again felt unwell after experiencing a burning sensation and pain in the stomach. His relatives arranged another ‘doli’ and trekked down the hill to Z. Jogumpeta carrying Marri Babu to the road point. From there, he was shifted in an autorickshaw to a private hospital at Dharmavaram village, where his condition is said to be stable.

The villagers say that 12 children have to either go on horseback, if available, or trek six km down the hill to Z. Jogumpeta to go to school. Chodavaram MLA K.S.N. Raju had laid the foundation for construction of a road in January at a cost of ₹2.5 crore.

The road work was not started on the plea that forest permission was not received for construction of the road. CPI(M) district secretariat member K. Govinda Rao sought that the road, for which the Anakapalli Collector Vijaya Krishnan had accorded administrative sanction in December 2024, should be taken up without further delay.