‘Give bridge, take votes’

• What have you done in the last 10 years, leaders questioned

River Godavari, the lifeline for the people of East Godavari district, becomes a nightmare for a village on the river banks due to floods during the rainy season. The villager’s demand for a bridge to island village Mulakallanka has remained a dream. Now the villagers have decided to teach a lesson to the political parties in the coming elections.

Mulakallanka of Sitanagaram mandal is the first island village that gets submerged due to floods. Since long, the villagers have been living in the grip of fear, finding it virtually impossible to cross the Godavari during the rainy season. With a population of nearly 2,000, most of the people depend on agriculture and cattle breeding. They cultivate corn and tobacco. Another major source of income is cattle breeding. The villagers have to cross the river every day to meet their needs. Students have cross the river to reach the schools and colleges in Rajahmundry, some 15 km away. Parents have to escort their children across the river even on normal days.

For the last two decades, the villagers’ pleas for a bridge fell on deaf ears. A tar road linking Mulakallanka from Godavari rivulet that was laid by the Zilla Parishad officials in 2004 got damaged within no time. From then on, the villagers have been demanding construction of a bridge, but to no avail. Now, in the face of MPTC, ZPTC, Assembly and general elections, the irked villagers have decided to demand the leaders to take care of a temporary road between Mulakallanka and Bobbillanka villages.

They set up a flexi in which the residents of both villages sought to know what the leaders had done for the last 10 years regarding the temporary road on the Godavari rivulet. They also urged the voters not to sell their votes. The village elders have been asking the voters to take on the political leaders for neglecting them. This message is spreading to other villages also.