Nelavancha, a tribal habitation with less than hundred houses, still waits for a road connecting it to the nearest village. The sick and women due for deliveries have to be carried in a sling or yoke over 2 km to reach the outskirts of Matwada village, which is the nearest to the hamlet.
Punnem Papaiah, a Koya tribal says he has been waiting since his childhood for the road to be laid to his hamlet. One has to climb a hillock full of boulders to reach this habitation. “We try to clear the boulders. However, we cannot clear them completely. It is unmotorable and no vehicle comes this way,” he explains.
The habitation has about 80 houses of Koya and Lambada tribals numbering 300. They eke out a living by cultivating the forest land. Punnem Parvathi says the forest officials were not allowing the road to be laid for fear of losing jungle. She had to carry her niece in a sling for delivery last month.
The hamlet is surrounded by thick green hillocks with rich iron ore deposits. Following representations of people, the District Collector Vakati Karuna tried to reach the habitation but in vain. “The Collector came up to two kilometres but she could not reach us. She promised to come after laying the road very soon,” says Papaiah.
Guguloth Panthulu, who is the only RMP doctor says it is difficult to handle emergency cases if somebody falls sick. According to him, sometime ago the ITDA officials dug up three bore wells which are the lifeline for them now. Earlier, they depended on a stream that criss-cross the hillocks for their drinking water needs and farming.
Seventy-year-old Cheemala Narasaiah says the world around him did not change much since his childhood. “All we want is a road connecting us to the Matwada village,” he says adding that every time during the elections they were promised of a road but never delivered.
