Rampachodavaram: Flood-hit tribals on innovative protest

Rampachodavaram(ASR District): Fed up with flood woes, tribal victims of Polavaram flood zones staged a protest in a novel way by standing in the floodwater, demanding that the government should pay the compensation immediately to them. The agitation took place in Pochavaram village of Kunavaram mandal in Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Wednesday.

Aggrieved that mud has accumulated in their houses and there is no electricity supply, the tribals have complained that dengue and malaria are rampant in the area due to the menace of mosquitoes. The Adivasi Mahasabha and other organisations criticised both the Central and State governments for being extremely negligent in the matter of R&R for the Polavaram residents.

Criticism is pouring in that residents are being ruthlessly drowned in water by conducting false surveys in the name of contour calculations.

The victims were angry that the government is planning to give the package according to 41.5 contours without considering the facts and saying that only two or three villages in the mandal are eligible. The villagers of Pochavaram Colony in Kunavaram mandal, who were inundated by the floodwater, stood in deep water and demanded that R&R package should be given to them immediately. They wanted their village to be included in the 41.5 contour. The villagers informed that not even a single house was left in their village and everything was submerged in water due to the flood.