VISAKHAPATNAM: Tribals and their children of hilltop village Neredu Bandha in Cheemalapadu panchayat of Ravikamatam mandal in Alluri Sitarama Raju district have laid a road with ‘shramdan’ as their children are finding it difficult to go to school. There are 70 Primitive Tribal Group members of 12 families in the village and 15 children are going to school from Neredu Bandha to Z Jogampeta. The pathway between the two villages was full of thorns and bushes.
The tribals said despite their repeated pleas to Madugula MRP and Ravikamatam MPDO for a pucca road, no steps were taken to lay the road. Hence to end the woes of their children till a permanent solution is found, they decided to lay a road with ‘shramdan’. The tribals and their school-going children laid the 4 km road in three days.
The pathway was part of the road, which was laid decades ago to transport bamboo to paper industries. Over the years, the road got damaged and it is now hardly motorable. With ‘shramdan’, the tribals have restored the pathway so that two-wheelers can move without any hassle.
Girijana Sangham Fifth Schedule Sadhana Committee district honorary president K Govinda Rao and PTG Sangham leader Potti Dora said they will stage a protest at the collectorate on January 25 if no steps were taken to lay roads to the villages, which do not have proper connectivity with the outside world.