Forest Officials Halt Indiramma Houses On PVTG Land
For the Kolam families, however, the stoppage has turned a rare act of sacrifice into a fresh struggle for survival.
Update: 2026-01-11 19:08 GMT
Adilabad: Even after donating her own patta land to help homeless Kolam Adivasi families get Indiramma houses, Atram Lethu Bai (56) has been forced onto a relay hunger strike after forest officials abruptly halted construction, claiming the land falls under reserve forest limits.
Lethu Bai, a member of the Kolam tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), had donated one acre from her three-acre agricultural holding in Dubbaguda (S) village, Sathnala mandal, to enable 10 landless families to build houses sanctioned by the government. Revenue records confirm the land is assigned patta land, yet forest officials stopped all construction.
Opposing the action, Lethu Bai and villagers began a relay hunger strike outside the Adilabad collectorate.
“I gave my land so that poor families would not lose their houses. We even removed standing crops and took a loss. Now they are stopping us from building,” Lethu Bai said.
“They beat the contractor and filed cases against us. Is this how the poor are treated?”
She had earlier told Deccan Chronicle that she decided to donate land after learning that families would lose their housing sanction for not having plots.
“There is still humanity. If I have land, why should others remain homeless?” she had said.
Forest officials claim the land is part of a larger 8,000-acre dispute between the Forest and Revenue departments in Adilabad district. Adilabad FRO Gulab Singh said a joint survey is required to resolve the issue.
For the Kolam families, however, the stoppage has turned a rare act of sacrifice into a fresh struggle for survival.
Opposing the action, Lethu Bai and villagers began a relay hunger strike outside the Adilabad collectorate.
“I gave my land so that poor families would not lose their houses. We even removed standing crops and took a loss. Now they are stopping us from building,” Lethu Bai said.
“They beat the contractor and filed cases against us. Is this how the poor are treated?”
She had earlier told Deccan Chronicle that she decided to donate land after learning that families would lose their housing sanction for not having plots.
“There is still humanity. If I have land, why should others remain homeless?” she had said.
Forest officials claim the land is part of a larger 8,000-acre dispute between the Forest and Revenue departments in Adilabad district. Adilabad FRO Gulab Singh said a joint survey is required to resolve the issue.
For the Kolam families, however, the stoppage has turned a rare act of sacrifice into a fresh struggle for survival.