A remote tribal village still walks 4 km for essentials—waiting decades for a road, safety, and a chance at dignity.
We are from Nakkulu Mamidi, a small village in Kivarla Panchayat, Ananthagiri Mandal, located within Alluri Sitarama Raju District. Around fifty families, totaling more than 300 people, have lived here for generations. Even after seventy-eight years of India’s independence, our village still lacks a road that can support even a bicycle.
To fetch essential goods like ration rice and groceries, we must walk about four kilometers to nearby towns such as Devarapalli, Araku Valley, or Paderu. With no vehicle access, transporting daily needs has become a struggle for everyone—especially older people, children, and pregnant people. This daily hardship has deeply affected the quality of life in our village.
Still, we take pride in our culture and celebrate traditional festivals like Itikula Pandaga, Shanku Deva Festival, and Tokku Pandaga, which lasts for eight days. These festivals bring our entire village together in joy and unity. The biggest of them is the Festival of Seeds, where we honor our crops and the land that sustains us.
A Road to Life
Farming is our main livelihood, and we cultivate rice, barnyard millet, finger millet, and other grains. These traditional foods are part of our lifestyle and have helped us stay strong and healthy. Most people in our village, both young and old, live without major illnesses because of this natural, nutritious diet.
But the lack of a road puts lives at risk, especially during emergencies. Pregnant women in labor often have to deliver at home, and in serious cases, they are carried on a doli to the nearest hospital. Sadly, not everyone makes it safely, and we have lost lives due to delays in reaching medical care.
We have approached the government many times with our request for a road. Every time, we are told the same thing: “It is under process,” but no progress has been made. We humbly urge the government to take action and sanction a proper road to Nakkulu Mamidi, so our village can finally move toward safety, health, and development.
Copyrights: All the photos and text in this post are the copyright of Kilaparthi Pavan Kumar and Creative Hut Institute of Photography and film. Their reproduction, full or part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
