Nallamala tribals begin march to Hyderabad

MAHBUBNAGAR: Chenchus and other SC/ST communities on Saturday started a padayatra from Nallamala forest to the Telangana Secretariat in Hyderabad seeking solutions to their long-pending demands.
Approximately, around 100 tribals started their march from Vatvarlapalli village in Achampet assembly constituency. Some of the participants said they had earlier conducted a padayatra to the Mahbubnagar district collectorate seeking rights over cultivating lands, construction of permanent houses, laying of BT roads, education, electrification, medical facilities, construction of check dams, recognizing of chenchu pentas as gram panchayats, employment at Srisailam left canal power generation unit and developing Mallela Thirtham and Akka Mahadevi caves as tourism centres to create jobs for the locals.
Some of the Chenchus also said that the government, in the guise of protecting the Nallamala forest, is seeking to relocate them from their hamlets. C Ramulu, president of Chenchu's Problems Solving Committee, alleged that the government is trying to force them out of their traditional homes in the name of rehabilitation.
"We were not ready for vacate our homes. Instead, the government should provide basic amenities and should withdraw its proposal to relocate Chenchus from the forest area, as we have been living here for a very long time," Ramulu said.
Meanwhile Achampet divisional forest officer Venkatramana said that his department has not received any proposal or order from the government on relocating the villages. He said that if any family was interested to shift from hamlets to safer places, the government was ready to arrange better facilities. "We will never force them to vacate their villages," he said.