Tribals donated Rs 4 lakh to build a road in the Deputy Chief Minister’s constituency

PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: Despite government inaction, the tribesmen of Sampangipadu village in Saluru Mandal in Parvathipuram-Manyam agency took it upon themselves to build a 5km stretch ‘kutcha’ road to the nearest motorable road in Kurukuti.

Sampangipadu Sarpanch Chandrayya spent out of his pocket to lay some part of the road due to a lack of support from local officials and leaders. Later, he pooled Rs 4 lakh from 40 households in the village to complete the construction of the road.

The tribes, mostly women and youths, cleared the bushes and trees under sramadhanam, and laid a road over a 5 km stretch to Kurukuti with the help of earthmovers and other machinery on Saturday. Interestingly, the Sarpanch Chandrayya is representing the ruling YSRC party and the Saluru assembly constituency was represented by the deputy chief minister and tribal welfare minister Pidika Rajanna Dora.

About 40 tribal families are living in Sampangipadu village in Saluru mandal in the district. However, there is no proper road for their village even after 75 years of independence in India. They have been facing difficulty to reach motorable roads even for day-to-day activities. In addition to it, going to a hospital during an emergency becomes a nightmare for the villagers. The Sarpanch Chandrayya assured that he would lay a road and had submitted several representations to leaders but these went in vain.

Therefore, he decided to lay the road with his own money and was able to complete some parts of the road with his money. However, his financial status did not support completing the road. Later, he pooled Rs 4 lahks in the villages and appealed to the locals to participate in Sramadhanam to complete the ‘kutcha’ road. On Saturday, he completed the ‘kutcha’ road in a stretch of 5km with the help of locals and machinery.

Speaking to TNIE, sarpanch Chandrayya said, “We have submitted several representations to ITDA officials and political leaders for the construction of the road. However, no government has bothered. I laid some part of the road by selling my assets. I hope that the government will now lay a pucca road to our village.”