Tumudibandh: Kutia Kondhs of four villages in this block of Kandhamal district believe they lead a cursed life due to some wrongdoings in their previous births.
About a hundred families with a population of 500 live in Nilingapadar, Palam, Kalam and Pukujhula villages in this block who have no access to basic amenities like health, education, electricity, drinking water, according to a report.
Though these tribal hamlets are just 12 km from the block headquarters and officials are aware of their plight, welfare benefits often elude them, the villagers said.
With not much cultivable lands in these hilly pockets, collection of minor forest produce is their prime occupation. Even if the villagers manage to raise a few crops in the existing farm lands, wild animals often damage them. To protect the crops, the Kondhs set up tree-top houses near their fields.
Women mostly collect Siali leaves and sell them at the local weekly market after trekking 12 km of hilly terrain. This is learnt to be the main source of income for the tribals in these villages.
While most of the families in the villages don’t have ration cards, the houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) have become a dream for them. The villagers are dependent on a stream and pits for their daily and drinking water needs. The untreated water often makes them sick.
In the absence of motorable roads, patients and expecting mothers are carried on cots to the nearby hospital at Tumudibandh.
” We lodged several written complaints with the administration seeking solution to the problems. Though the officials visited the village in the past, no measures have been taken so far in this regard,” said village head Indramutha Majhi. Political leaders turn up only before the elections and forget us once polling is over, he added.
Ward member Debaraj Muthamajhi said the villagers’ pleas always fall on deaf ears. The villagers would stage a dharna at the block office if the problems, especially construction of an approach road, are not sorted out in the next 15 days, he threatened.
When contacted, Block Development Officer (BDO) Basant Kumar Sethy said he visited the villages last year and sent a report in this regard to the higher-ups. He would remind the authorities concerned of the problems, the BDO assured. PNN
