Malkangiri: Primitive Bonda and Didai tribals received 1,700 pucca houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) from the district administration on the occasion of Diwali, Saturday.
The district rural development agency (DRDA) plans to construct 4,557 houses under the schemes out of which 1,700 houses were handed over to the tribals, said Balamukund Bhuyan, project director of DRDA.
The primitive tribals in the cut-off area (now termed Swabhiman Anchal) of Balimela reservoir live a life of misery and hardship as there are no transport facilities. Boats are the lone mode of transport on which villagers had to depend.
It was more difficult for the district administration to reach out to the beneficiaries to provide them the benefits of various welfare schemes. Moreover, it was also difficult to ferry the construction materials to the villages for house construction. As a result, the tribals continued to live in shanties.
However, things brightened with the construction of the Gurupriya bridge following which the district administration managed to construct houses for the tribals living at the foothills. The DRDA, which was overseeing the implementation of the schemes, ferried the construction materials on horse backs and slings and managed to complete the houses for the tribals. The remaining houses will be completed soon, the PD said.
PNN