Rajamahendravaram: Projects to help tribals stalled in Agency area

Rajamahendravaram: The lethargy on the part of the government and apathy on the part of the officials has led to stalling of projects aimed at giving a boost to economic base in tribal areas, according to sources.

Among them are Sabari Mineral Water unit and Chintoor Mirchi Powder packing unit in Chintoor area. In Chintoor, high quality red chillies are under cultivation in 1,000 acres. In the past a plan was prepared to grind the red chillies into powder and market them through Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC) and sell them in bottles.

Sources said the previous government also planned to start a drinking water project in the name of Sabari. It was planned to draw the water from nearby Sabari river and proposed to sell in bottles after purification

Former ITDA project officer Abishkit Kishore, GCC Managing Director T Babu Rao Naidu and District Collector D Muraldhar Reddy launched the projects on a trial basis. Bit it was abandoned later. The then ITDA project officer Abishikit Kishore was transferred.

The ITDA seems to have abandoned the project which was estimated to cost Rs 55 lakh and also the red chilli powder packing unit which was proposed to be launched at a cost of Rs 22 lakh. In addition to this, a silk sari unit which was started by former TDP minister Nara Lokesh too went into cold storage.

Meanwhile, the government has established a mini ITDA with Chintoor headquarters for mandals of Chintoor, Kunavaram, Etapaka and Vara Ramachandrapuram which ware expected to be submerged by Polavara project. The tribal population in these mandals is 2 lakh.