KAKINADA: Rehabilitation and resettlement colonies around Polavaram project, meant for displaced families are living in abject conditions denied as they are of even basic amenities. There are no proper roads, drains, street lights and drinking water facilities.
Many of the residents shifted to the colonies from their villages without observing conditions of the houses. “Following submergence of their villages due to backwaters, many people moved into the colonies, even though they were not fully complete. The government assured to provide all basic infrastructure facilities in all R&R colonies, apart from educational and medical facilities. However, even bathrooms have not been built properly.
Due to open drains and dearth of roads, drain water spills onto the roads because of which mosquito menace is high. There is no burial ground in the vicinity,” said Teli Gangadhar, a member of R&R Colonies.
Last month, a team from National Commission Scheduled Tribes (NCST) visited some of the rehabilitation colonies, including Yerravaram of Jeelugumilli mandal of West Godavari. The predominant Koya and Konda Reddy communities expressed their dismay. They told the team of unresolved issues pertaining to drinking water, roads, hospitals, school buildings apart from absence of widow and old-age pension and non-issuance of patta passbooks for the land provided to the PDFs. The NCST team found that the rooms did not have proper ventilation.
At P. Narayanapuram, formerly Chinduri village, tribal women demanded a pitwall on the top of the stairs and a compound wall around their sanctioned land for domestic use and protection.
The scene at Moolametta village in Devipatnam mandal was no different. During the visit, the team found that none of the constructed houses had basic facilities. They noticed doors were not fixed in some houses, there was no proper plastering and in some cases walls had already developed cracks. The government sanctioned Rs 2.20 lakh which was insufficient.
