Indervelli martyrs’ column and Jodeghat to be developed soon

An order to this effect was issued by the State government to Collectors of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts Rahul Raj and Hemanth Borkade

Adilabad: Both the Indervelli martyrs’ column at the Indervelli mandal centre and the Kumram Bheem Memorial at Jodeghat village in Kerameri would be developed soon. An order to this effect was issued by the State government to Collectors of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts Rahul Raj and Hemanth Borkade, respectively on Thursday.

As per the order, Rahul Raj visited the column and held a meeting with elders of tribal communities in Indervelli mandal centre. He said that a report would be sent to Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari. A memorial park would be created at the column soon. Tribals have been demanding the park for quite a long time.

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As per official records, 13 tribals were shot dead by police in the infamous firing incident for participating in a public meeting held at Indervelli mandal centre on April 20, 1981, following a call given by Girijan Rythu Coolie Sangham, a frontal organisation of Maoists, popularly known as CPI (ML) People’s War Group, who promised to restore their lands encroached upon by non-tribals and Lambadas. The death toll was around 60, according to tribal organisations.

Meanwhile, Hemanth visited the Kumram Bheem memorial and conducted a grama sabha to learn challenges of the spot. He stated that a report would be submitted to the Chief Secretary as to what could be done to develop the memorial and status of double-bed room houses granted to locals in the past.

On October 8 in 2014, the then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, while addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the 74th death anniversary of Kumram Bheem, announced that the village would be developed into a tourist spot. Accordingly, the memorial was built at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore on sprawling 100 acres of land and a double-lane road was laid from Hatti village to Jodeghat spending Rs 15.70 crore in 2017.

Legendary tribal leader Kumram Bheem had attained martyrdom fighting against the then Nizam government seeking rights over water, forest and land, in the 1940s. Tribals from several parts of erstwhile Adilabad, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh gather here to observe martyrdom of Bheem every year.