Fight against official apathy, in a unique way!

Gadwal: Unlike others, who blame the authorities when developments works are stalled, the residents of Gurramguda village beg to differ – they seem to believe in action more than words. Whenever a programme hits a roadblock, the people of Gurramguda village, located along the Krishna, take control of the situation and carry out the works all by themselves as a fitting reply to the negligent attitude of the administration.

In a glittering example of nation building, the residents of the village, located 15 kilometres from Gadwal, in the drought-affected Jogulamba Gadwal district, raised money through donations to lay road and construct a bridge which could not be done by the authorities concerned.

The woes of Gurramguda residents can only be imagined by one who experienced a similar predicament, as the village which got immersed during the 2009 floods is still recovering from the ordeal. Due to no help coming from the administration, the villagers suffered for years together and more so pregnant women had wait for hours for help to come their way due to lack of proper infrastructure.

There are as many as 757 people, who reside in 160 houses of the village. Although, it is a Gram Panchayat, the villagers waited for years, for help from the administration but with no positive aid from them, they took charge of the situation and started work on completing two precious projects in the village.

Earlier, the villagers had approached many politicians for help in taking up the works of the road and bridge but had to be satisfied with half replies or false promises. Left with no viable alternative, they resolved to do the works by themselves and raised funds through contributions from the villagers. The villagers completed laying the road near the river.

In 2009, the then government made a proposal for the bridge but then it remained a nonstarter because of no response from the officials and the government. In 2014 elections, it was once again mooted only to be ignored later. The villagers expressed anger towards politicians for their negligent attitude towards the well-being of the village and resolved to teach politicians a lesson during the 2019 Assembly elections.

The villagers waited for the government or administrators to take action when they were met with disappointment. In the absence of the road and the bridge, they could not visit other areas and had to solely depend upon a lone mechanised boat to cross the Krishna River which was risky, nut the villagers had no other go.

They started the construction works for the bridge by laying pipes on three sides of the river by doing ‘shramdan’. The residents managed to raise Rs 10 lakh funds for the construction of the bridge and for the laying of roads.

Apart from the funds, some villagers contributed cement and stones (kankar). After the relentless struggle by the villagers, 50 per cent of the works on the bridge are completed and the rest is expected to be completed in 10 or 20 days. Women folk of the village expressed happiness over the works.

By V Narender Chary