Visakhapatnam Tribals Protest for Road Connectivity

Visakhapatnam: Tribal residents from multiple villages staged a dharna under the umbrella of Andhra Pradesh Adivasi Girijana Sangham seeking fulfilment of their long-pending developmental and administrative demands, the key ones being construction of an access road to Donkada PVTG Kondu village, appointment of an IAS officer at the Narsipatnam sub-collector’s office, and expeditious inquiry into tribal land disputes under the Record of Rights (ROR) framework.

On the occasion, Kondatambilli Apparao, a resident of Donkada, along with Girijana Sangham leader Cheepu Ramesh, submitted a petition to the Administrative Officer at the Narsipatnam RDO office outlining these requests. As per the petition, despite NABARD sanctioning Rs 1.6 crore in 2023, work for constructing the road to Donkada village in Golugonda mandal in Narsipatnam division of Anakapalli district has remained stalled due to the collector’s failure to issue the proceedings required for forest clearance.

Similarly, several other road infrastructure projects across the region remain incomplete. These include Arla-Pitri Gadda road costing Rs 4.10 crore, Rs 2.60 crore road connecting Y.B. Patnam to Losingi via Peddagaruvu, Jogampeta and Neredu Bandha road costing Rs 2.50 crore in Ravikamatham mandal. Delays in completing these road projects have disrupted mobility to these isolated villages.

Protesting villagers have demanded immediate completion of all the pending road works. With regard to other issues, the petition pointed out that 23 children of Losingi village are unable to pursue basic education due to the absence of a teacher. Residents have called for the establishment of a GCC depot at Jogampeta, which could serve as a vital distribution point from where tribal people from 10 nearby villages can collect their rations.

In addition, the petitioners have raised concerns over encroachment of tribal lands by a former sarpanch in Survey No. 8-1 in Panasalapadu revenue area of Rolugunta mandal. Tribal people have filed an ROR case in 2019 at the Narsipatnam Sub-Collector’s office on the matter. However, no inquiry has been undertaken thus far. The petitioners demanded that an investigation be launched into the encroachment by sarpanch without any further delay.