PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: The tribespeople of Sampangipadu hamlet in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh recently took it upon themselves to build a 5km stretch of ‘kutcha’ (temporary) road to link their hamlet with Kurukuti village. It's not that they are keen on laying the road themselves spending their own money. But they had no other go since the government officials and local leaders had turned a deaf ear to their plea for the road.
Sampangipadu Sarpanch Chandrayya had to spend part of the expenditure from his pocket to lay part of the road. Later, he pooled Rs 4 lakh from 40 households in the village to complete the construction of the road.
The tribes, mostly women and youths, cleared the bushes and trees under "sramadhanam" (voluntary contribution involving physical effort) and laid a road over a 5 km stretch to Kurukuti with the help of earthmovers and other machinery on Saturday. Interestingly, the Sarpanch Chandrayya is representing the ruling YSRC party and the Saluru assembly constituency was represented by the deputy chief minister and tribal welfare minister Pidika Rajanna Dora.
About 40 tribal families are living in Sampangipadu village in Saluru mandal in the district. However, there is no proper road for their village even after 75 years of independence in India. They have been facing difficulty to reach motorable roads even for day-to-day activities. In addition to it, going to a hospital during an emergency becomes a nightmare for the villagers. The Sarpanch Chandrayya assured that he would lay a road and had submitted several representations to leaders but these went in vain.
Therefore, he decided to lay the road with his own money and was able to complete some parts of the road with his money. However, his financial status did not support completing the road. Later, he pooled Rs 4 lahks in the villages and appealed to the locals to participate in Sramadhanam to complete the ‘kutcha’ road. On Saturday, he completed the ‘kutcha’ road in a stretch of 5km with the help of locals and machinery.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, sarpanch Chandrayya said, “We have submitted several representations to ITDA officials and political leaders for the construction of the road. However, no government has bothered. I laid some part of the road by selling my assets. I hope that the government will now lay a pucca road to our village.”