Andhra Pradesh: In the highland villages of the ASR district, residents wait endlessly for basic necessities

Tucked away in bucolic settings in the isolated hills of the Alluri Sitarama Raju area, a community struggles with the lack of a fundamental need: a secure route that links them to the outside world.

The mere act of casting a ballot for the people who live in the mountain villages of Jajulabanda and Kumburla requires them to travel thirty kilometers across dangerous terrain, risking accidents at every turn. For this tribe, having enough road connection seems to be a ray of light, offering answers to a host of problems such as government rations, healthcare, and education.

Krishna Rao, a resident of Kumburla hilltop hamlet, painted a picture of their battle for TNIE, saying, “Our hilltop village is reachable only by a pathway up to a certain extent, after which the terrain becomes rugged and difficult.” This is a rugged terrain that even cars find difficult to navigate. As such, ambulances cannot get to our community in the event of a medical emergency, and we are unable to transfer patients in our cars. We thus depend on dolis, or improvised stretchers, at these crucial moments.

Krishna bemoaned, “A school and two teachers were allocated to our village, but unfortunately, the teachers are not fulfilling their duties,” as he considered the state of education. We’ve decided to educate our children with a teacher from our local neighborhood as a consequence. However, children are quitting school as a consequence of inadequate amenities. Despite approval, plans for a road and school building have not yet come to pass.

The misery of tribal people has been exacerbated by the lack of dependable supplies of drinking water, as Venkata Ramana of Jajulabanda pointed out: “The water we get is muddy.” Before drinking the water, we filter it with a towel. It’s an ongoing battle.

There is some optimism despite their difficulties since road building is getting under way. From Jajubandala village, Vanthala Suresh said, “Building a suitable road would take care of all our issues. At the moment, earthworks are the main focus of road building. At this point, road projects are often abandoned, but we’re still optimistic that the work will be finished quickly.

But in the middle of their hardships, the peasants voice their disappointment with political pledges. They want for a leader who would really tend to their fundamental needs rather than merely making election-related promises. However, there’s hope that change could finally be in the air.