15-07-2025
With road works pending, tribals join hands to fill potholes in Anakapalli district
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Visakhapatnam: Tribals of Pedagaruvu, a hilltop village in Arla panchayat of Rolugunta mandal, Anakapalli district, took it upon themselves to fill potholes on the road leading to their village after it was damaged severely due to heavy rains recently.
According to the locals, funds amounting to Rs 2.5 crore were sanctioned for the construction of a BT road from YB Patnam to Losingi via Pedagaruvu village under the national rural employment guarantee scheme. With this funding, a 2-km stretch from YB Patnam to Losingi was covered with granular sub-base. However, the rest of the road was left incomplete.
"Due to the recent heavy rains, potholes developed extensively on the existing road, and since side drains and culverts were not constructed, the entire road was damaged.
We held a meeting and it was highlighted that the road construction was being delayed as the contractor repeatedly says that he has not received the bill yet. Motivated by this, we decided to fill the potholes ourselves. Over the last two days, we got together and patched up potholes across the 2-km stretch with stones," they said.
"Recently, Pangi Sai (22), a pregnant woman, delivered her child midway on the road while being carried on a doli (cloth stretchers) to a hospital that was four km away. Many villagers face similar hardships, which is why the entire village united to fill the potholes themselves," said K Narasayya and Mahesh.
The villagers demanded that the contractor's bill be paid immediately so that road construction work can resume. They further threatened to stage protests with dolis at the collector's office if road works are delayed further.
