Polavaram displaced families look to tide over livelihood crisis

A mighty Peepal histrion stands defender arsenic the ineffable Godavari River curves on the hillside to scope Penikilapadu, a colony erstwhile inhabited by the Koya tribe, successful Mantooru Panchayat of Devipatnam Mandal successful the Alluri Sitarama Raju district. The tribal community, which eked retired a surviving done fishing, had to wantonness the colony successful July 2020 to marque mode for the Polavaram Project, labelled India’s largest multi-purpose irrigation project.

The Polavaram Project is being built crossed the Godavari River successful the erstwhile West Godavari district. Declared a nationalist project, it aims to divert 80 TMC of Godavari h2o to Krishna River, irrigate 4.36 lakh hectares, proviso drinking h2o to 28 lakh people, and make 960 MW of hydropower.

At slightest 56 Project Displaced Families (PDFs) were relocated to the Kondamodalu Polavaram Project Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) colony astatine Pedda Bhimpalli colony successful Devipatnam Mandal. With this, the full fig of PDFs successful the colony roseate to 310, belonging to 3 tribes—Koya, Konda Kammara and Konda Reddi, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group successful Andhra Pradesh. The Kondamodalu R&R colony lies 40–50 km distant from their ancestral villages.

“It was astir the extremity of July 2020 erstwhile the stream swelled with record-high flood inflows, forcing america to flee. The floods washed distant 9 dhones—traditional boats—belonging to our colony and buried portion of the colony adjacent the Polavaram spillway,” recalled Mr. Ramana Dora.

In July 2020, the flood level astatine Bhadrachalam, upstream of the Polavaram project, touched 71.30 ft—the highest since the large flood of 1986, erstwhile it reached 75.6 ft.

In the Polavaram submergence area, the Konda Reddi, Konda Kammara and Koya tribes shared a heavy enslaved with dhone. Crafted from the Booriga histrion (local name) and measuring astir 10 to 15 feet, the dhone was utilized for fishing, crossing the river, and adjacent during aesculapian emergencies. Owing to the quality of the wood, the dhone could interval adjacent erstwhile overturned and could transportation 8 to 9 people.

The PDFs said that they are struggling to gain a livelihood successful their rehabilitated areas. Farming oregon sportfishing successful their abandoned villages for impermanent sustenance has go astir intolerable owed to the inaccessibility from the R&R colonies.

“In our ancestral villages, everything came from nature—the stream and the forest. In the R&R colony, thing comes without cash. How tin we gain wealth erstwhile we person nary skills to find enactment extracurricular the forest?” lamented 36‑year‑old Kareem Ramana Dora, a bachelor enrolled arsenic a Para Legal Volunteer. “Our family’s 7 acres of onshore successful our autochthonal colony are yet to beryllium submerged. But tending to the fields oregon resuming sportfishing is impossible, arsenic we cannot spend to transverse the stream regularly,” helium added.

In Kachuluru village, located 2 kilometres upstream from Penikilapadu, astatine slightest 80 families fled during the 2020 floods and settled successful the Indukuru‑2 R&R colony. The tribes of Kachuluru had displayed singular courageousness by rescuing 26 tourists aft the backstage tourer vas Royal Vasishta Punnami capsized adjacent their colony connected September 15, 2019, sidesplitting 51 people.

“Our family’s 20 acres of land, with astir 300 thenar trees, fell wrong the Polavaram submergence area. Most villagers are present jobless successful the R&R colony, peculiarly the men,” said Konutula Chittibabu.

Recalling that his lone sportfishing boat, the dhone, was washed distant by the river, helium said, “I sold my lanchi, which erstwhile plied crossed the stream betwixt Polavaram and Kondamodalu, astatine a throwaway terms of ₹80,000. If I hadn’t sold it, wherever would I person anchored it successful the R&R colony?” Mr. Chittibabu asked.

A begetter of three, Mr. Chittibabu is present trying his luck successful agriculture connected the onshore allotted nether the Land-to-Land (LTL) constituent adjacent the Indukuru-2 colony.

As of October 2025, of the full 38,060 PDFs crossed 172 habitations successful the submerged areas of the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, 14,371 PDFs person been relocated to 26 R&R colonies, according to the Polavaram Project Authority nether the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

A full of 89,996 acres of onshore has been acquired for constructing 121 R&R colonies and allotment nether the LTL component. The acquisition of 1,00,100 acres requires ₹12,832 crore, but astir fractional of the funds are yet to beryllium released by the Centre.

Polavaram Irrigation Project Administrator V. Abhishek said the State authorities has roped successful the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to place suitable onshore for mounting up industries adjacent R&R colonies.

“We person adopted consent-based rehabilitation for economical viability. Families are being asked to take LTL land, and ₹700 crore has already been spent connected onshore acquisition since November,” helium said. Construction of 49 much R&R colonies is underway pursuing re-tendering. Land is besides being identified for rehabilitating 17,114 PDFs from 49 habitations successful the Chintoor bureau area, which faces submergence risks post-2020 floods.

Despite these efforts, galore families are inactive struggling to marque a livelihood. Konuthula Papayamma, a parent of 5 from Thallooru village, said: “We were allotted 2.5 acres nether the LTL component, but it has nary irrigation entree and is unsuitable for cultivation. Using compensation money, we prepared the land, but successful 4 years, we could turn cashew connected lone fractional an acre.”

“Only 4 families among the 310 PDFs successful Kondamodalu R&R colony accepted onshore nether the LTL component. Every household present is inactive searching for a guaranteed livelihood,” she said. Accompanied by her hubby Babu Rao, she works wherever labour is disposable successful adjacent Gokavaram town.

Alluri Sitarama Raju District Collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar said that a mapping workout is underway to measure skill-training requirements among PDFs. “MSME parks are being encouraged adjacent R&R colonies. Each colony volition yet person a Skill Training Centre.”

Sangam Sreelatha, 26, a parent of three, said families present judge immoderate unskilled enactment successful adjacent towns similar Rajamahendravaram, Gokavaram and Kakinada. “My hubby works successful construction, portion women find seasonal enactment successful baccy and maize fields. The wages are meagre—₹350 per day—excluding ₹100 for transportation. Monsoon is the hardest time,” she said.

In R&R colonies nether ITDA limits, women question agelong distances by autorickshaws to find work, portion galore men stay unemployed. “During winter, we permission location by 5 a.m. and instrumentality successful the evening aft moving successful maize fields and baccy nurseries, travelling astir 50 km 1 way,” said Nesika Subbayamma of Indukuru-2 colony.

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Women gain a maximum of ₹500 per time successful agriculture and displacement to operation enactment during the off-season. “Over the years, men person remained unemployed and instrumentality attraction of children,” she added.

Families person besides been forced to change their accepted diets owed to worsening poverty. “I haven’t seen Vonjalu food since 2020. In our village, it was abundant. Here, we can’t adjacent spend farmed fish. Our nutrient habits person changed to those of the plains,” said Mr. Ramana Dora. Women erstwhile fished alongside men successful the Godavari.

The PDFs stay hopeful that they tin resume fishing, arsenic they are entitled to sportfishing rights successful the Polavaram reservoir lone erstwhile the task is commissioned.

According to the Second Schedule of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency successful Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, “In cases of irrigation oregon hydel projects, the affected families whitethorn beryllium allowed sportfishing rights successful the reservoirs, successful specified mode arsenic whitethorn beryllium prescribed by the due government.”

“If entitlements are honoured successful missive and spirit, we anticipation to regain our sportfishing rights successful the reservoir. We privation to unrecorded the beingness we erstwhile lived by the stream — possibly aft the task is commissioned. Until then, our lives bent betwixt uncertainty and the ineffable stream Godavari,” helium added.

Meanwhile, during a high‑level reappraisal successful Amaravati connected October 3, 2025, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu acceptable a caller deadline to committee the Polavaram task by the Godavari Pushkarams successful 2027. As of October, 79% of earthwork, 84.78% of factual work, and 86.26% of alloy enactment had been completed.