Sinapali: On this side of a dense forest is Odisha and on the other side is Chhattisgarh. Amidst this dense forest is situated the tribal-dominated Sinbahali village, just 25km away from Sinapali Sadar block in Nuapada district.
Accommodating 40 tribal families, the village is left in abject neglect and exclusion. With no source of income, the tribals here depend on forest produce for their source of food and do odd jobs to make both ends meet.
Forget about development, the village till date is alien to basic facilities including a concrete road, education, health, anganwadi centre, drinking water facilities and communication.
With no motorable road, the villagers have to trek through the dense forest to reach the block office for their daily purposes. The villagers have to walk by foot to go to the block as even a motorbike cannot travel in the rough stony road.
After crossing the forest, the villagers have to cross two rivers that flow through the forest. Villagers literally have to wade through waist-deep water to cross both the rivers. Situation worsens during rainy seasons as the rivers swell up.
Cots and slings have been serving as ambulance in this village for generations as no ambulance can reach there. Moreover, no government official has ever put their feet in the village.
A small stream serves as source of drinking water. Being illiterate, many villagers have being deprived of their old-age pension. Moreover, electricity connection to the village is a tough job due to lack of a proper concrete road. As there is no school, children in the village have to travel three kilometers to reach an Anganwadi centre.
However, the tribals fear for their children and do not allow them to trek the forest to reach the Anganwadi centre. Most of the kids are seen helping their parents in farm works and grazing cattle.
Even as India is all geared up to celebrate its 72nd Independence Day, the villagers here still seem to be in the hands of abject poverty, neglect and underdevelopment.
PNN
