What happens when there is no elected body to look after the village affairs? The village goes to dogs, so to say. That is exactly what is happening in several village of the twin Godavari districts. Since there has been no elected body for past two years, with the government not conducting elections for its own reasons, the development and maintenance of basic infrastructure in the villages has taken a back seat. Though there are special officers, for reasons best known to them, they have not bothered to address the problems of the villages. Further, with no elected body, needed funds from the Central Government stopped coming and this has left many villages in pathetic conditions. Roads are in a bad shape and there is no proper drinking water supply, with water tanks meant for storing drinking water in urgent need of repairs. There is no street-lighting and sanitation is the worst problem in the villages. With the news that panchayat elections are scheduled to be held in a couple of months, Express visited a village to find out the problems bogging it.
People of Konthamur and surrounding villages complain that panchayat staff are not bothered about cleaning the water tanks as per schedule as there is no one to question them. There is no proper system for garbage disposal, which has resulted in heaps and heaps of garbage at the entrances of the villages.
In Konthamur, the population has increased, but the facilities have not increased proportionately. With no elected body, development works have come to a standstill. A road between Katheru and Konthamur, though a vital link, is still a distant dream.
Overflowing drains, chocked with silt, inadequate drinking water storage facilities give a telltale picture of the lack of development and official neglect in the village. With the only water tank in the village unable to cater to the needs of all the villagers, several of the villagers are forced to fetch water from borewells and other sources from elsewhere.
‘’With no elected body, several proposals for the development and welfare are gathering dust. Though special officers were appointed when the term of elected bodies ended two years ago, they proved to be of not much help. Villagers could not go to them with their problems and the officials were not transparent in their administration or spending of the funds,’’ P Lakshman Rao, a senior citizen of Konthamur, pointed out. He hoped that the proposed elections to the village panchayat would solve the problems of the village. Not just Konthamur, but several other villages which have not seen the local bodies’ elections in the last seven years, are suffering in many ways. Many gravel roads are yet to be converted into BT roads, as there is no one to bring pressure on the government to do so. The APSRTC is refusing to operate buses to some villages stating there are no motorable roads to them. Several of interior villages in the agency region have no transport facilities. Further, taking advantage of the absence of elected bodies and occasional visits of the special officers to the villages, unauthorised layouts are mushrooming everywhere.