Gurramgadda, where residents travel for nine months by boat

​Mahbubnagar: During rain or floods people in rural areas can’t have relief from problems as they have to be extremely careful while travelling to other areas. If the journey with hardship is to be undertaken after midnight it would mean the end of life itself. Not only that; youth born in villages face hardship even in getting married.

One such village is Gurramgadda, near the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Highway, to access which is only by boats. If the residents have to go other areas they also have to use the lone speed boat during nine months in an year, as the Krishna river surrounds it. Located in Gadwal mandal, it is described as an island-village, although not amid sea or surrounded by water.

Gurramgadda, which is also a gram panchayat, has about 170 houses with 580 voters. Its main problem is lack of roads or bridge to enable the residents to travel. The problem has remained for decades, as the residents have been going by the boat to reach Barelli, Gadwal and Pebbair areas.

During the monsoon the village is surrounded by a turbulent Krishna to an extent of one km, forcing the residents to use the boat for travel, or to stay put in houses till the flood fury abates. Boat journeys are must for students to go to school and for farmers to secure fertilizer, implements and to sell their produce.

Women, the aged and children face innumerable problems; more so pregnant women who have to leave the village much in advance for the pre and post-delivery period. If women are forced to stay in the village they have to give up hopes of life!. If they go into labour during late nights they have to wait with the fingers cross as the alternative, with hopes of life hanging ina balance.

Many pregnant women and sick had faced problems leading to life and death issues. In case of death some were forced to throw the bodies in the river without performing the last rites. Young men and women born in the village face a peculiar problem of not being able to get married at the right age.

Till date 15 young men are waiting for those willing to offer brides in marriage, because of lack of either road or bridge to travel out of Gurramgadda. Similar is the fate of young women. As a result the number of persons remaining unmarried is increasing. They are forced to curse themselves why they are born in the village, point out some residents.

For both boys and girls education has become elusive, as the village primary school has facilities only till fifth class, with two teachers. They don’t bother to come to school or take classes. Those residents who can afford are forced to make their children stay with relatives in towns for pursuing studies However, those children keen to study have been taking the risk of travelling daily by boat to reach schools. This has been happening for years and is proving to be an Herculean task.

Some residents told The Hans India that they have been facing severe hardships for years. They are angry with politicians who approach them at the time of elections, but don’t offer any solution to their problems. Students have appealed to the administration to build a bridge which can help end their travel woes.

The villagers ten years back were forced to use small vessels (putties). Even this travel would not be possible if there were floods in the Krishna. The then Collector Usha Rani and then Minister D K Aruna had sanctioned a power boat using CDFD funds. Yet the residents’ problems of travel did not end.

The power boat is being operated by expert swimmers, charging Rs 14 for both to and fro journey. Villagers have to reach the boat point by 6 pm if not they have to wait till the next day to get back to the village. It is not that those in the previous government had not acted to find a solution to the problem. They had planned a causeway after a survey. The villagers have been waiting till date for the work to be launched. In 2009 residents of Gurramgadda during the floods were forced to remain indoors for two months.

Whenever floods occur they are forced to go up a hill in the middle of the village to save themselves. Despite such hardships, residents are happy to live in the village. Say former sarpanch Ayyanna and upa-sarpanch Lakshmanna that they would remain grateful to the district administration for life if a bridge or a causeway is built, which may cost Rs10 crore, to facilitate their travel to and out of the island-village.

By V Narender Chary