Asifabad: Villagers take risks to cross streams

The residents of Gundi village in Asifabad mandal continue to travel on a raft made of thermocol sheets whenever the district registers heavy rains.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Connectivity and transportation in remote parts of the district has remarkably transformed post formation of Telangana. However, some villagers still rely upon country boats to reach neighboring habitations and towns for various needs including buying essentials and medical emergencies.

The residents of Gundi village in Asifabad mandal continue to travel on a raft made of thermocol sheets whenever the district registers heavy rains. This is due to the delay in creation of a high-level bridge across Peddavagu, a stream near the village. Ironically, the village is located barely 3 kilometres from the district centre.

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Dwellers of Dimda village in Chintalamanepalli use country boats to travel outside their village when a stream is flooded. A 24-year old student, Doke Ramakrishna, of the village was washed away while crossing the flooded stream in 2015. They have been asking for a bridge across the stream for quite a long time.

People of over 50 villages in Kagaznagar, Dahegaon and Bheemini mandals are left with no option, but to cross Peddavagu by country boats, following lack of a bridge across the waterbody. Two pillars and three slabs of a high-level bridge crumbled in October 2022. Repairing of the structure began, but has not been completed so far, causing inconvenience to people of the three mandals.

Meanwhile, occupants of many villages of Vemanapalli mandal in Mancherial district always use wooden boats to cross the Pranahita river and to enter Maharashtra for various requirements. Dwellers of Sangdi village in Bhela mandal, Vadur village in Adilabad and Anthragaon village of Tamsi mandal use the unsafe means of transit in order to cross Penganga river and to reach Maharashtra.

Similarly, inhabitants of Korsini, Veeravelli, Gundaipet, Thatipelli and Thummidhetti villages of Koutala mandal are still depending upon the risky boats to meet relatives and to visit pilgrim centres in Maharashtra. Dwellers of Indaram village in Kerameri mandal travel on the country boats to reach Savarkheda village for purchasing commodities and to go to mandal centre and district headquarters.