Telangana: Over 2,000 villagers in Nirmal cut off every monsoon, risk lives crossing Kaddam river on makeshift rafts

Over 2,000 residents from 10 remote villages in Nirmal’s Pembi mandal remain cut off every monsoon due to the absence of a bridge across the Kaddam river, forcing them to use unsafe rafts and boats for daily needs.

Nirmal: Accessing the external world becomes risky, but unavoidable for over dwellers of multiple interior villages in this region in every monsoon. Over 2,000 residents from nearly 10 remote villages in Pembi mandal are still struggling to reach the outside world due to the lack of a bridge across Kaddam river.

Villagers of Yapalguda, Ramnagar, Dondari, Chakirevu, Sattuguda, Gummena, and Englapur villages and surrounding hamlets are forced to cross the river by unsafe rafts made of thermocol sheets and country boats for various needs including buying groceries and visiting hospitals. They are disconnected from the outside world whenever the river swells.

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In particular, students bear the brunt. The students studying Class VIII, IX and X and Intermediate in government run educational institutions are forced to skip school as the villages are cut off almost from July to September every year.

The villagers, mostly belonging to tribal communities, recall losing their family members when they could not take them to nearby primary health centre during medical emergencies. More acute are the problems faced while transporting their farm products to market yards.

“It is risky. But we need to cross the river by rafts and country-made boats. We are cut off for nearly three months every year,” rues Thodasam Shambu, a tribal leader.

Panchayat Raj engineering officials say that there was no proposal to build a bridge across the river as the villages are located in the forests. They however assure to take steps to build a bridge afte getting a permission from the forest department.

Meanwhile, the villagers are planning organise a walkathon from Shetpalli village to Pembi mandal revenue officer’s office or Tahsildar seeking the bridge facility across the river.