Hyderabad: In a concerning incident, the body a Chenchu woman who died of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) on Thursday night, September 19, was left on the road by the 108 ambulance service which was supposed to drop her, along with her attendants to her hamlet located inside the Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR).
Though this issue may seem like an isolated incident, it exposes the systemic failure of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Mannanur.
M Guruvamma (29), a resident of Eerlapenta in Appapur gram panchayat of Lingal mandal in Nagarkurnool district, was suffering from fever, and got admitted to Mahabubnagar District Government Hospital for treatment couple of days ago. On Thursday night Guruvamma breathed her last.
The 108 ambulance who were bringing her body back home, dropped her on the Srisailam Highway, at the Farhabad check-post in the middle of the night. They were afraid of entering the forest, as Eerlapenta is located deep inside the forest, and a distance of 5-6 km stretch of kaccha road leading to the hamlet, is in a very bad condition.
The road is full of stones, with a steep incline and decline leading to the village. The last time the road was laid was before the assembly elections in 2023. Since then, no repairs have been taken up, and the road is badly damaged during the monsoons. There is also a small stream which cuts across the road.
Hence, the 108 ambulance staff couldn’t operate the vehicle which was already not in a good condition, while carrying the dead body in the middle of the night, that too deep inside the forest.
What happened to all those ambulances?
The deceased’s husband called an ITDA official, but with no response. Finally, an auto driver named Seenu from Mannanur located 22 km from Farhabad check-post was called in the morning to take her body to the village in the morning. The deceased’s family was charged Rs 4,500 for the trip.
There were two ambulances given to ITDA Mannanur under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Man Yojna. Sevya Naik, the healthcare assistant hired on contractual basis was supposed to take the responsibility of taking care of the healthcare needs of the Chenchus.
Interestingly, there are around 8 safari vehicles of the forest department stationed at the Farhabad check-post, which are used to ferry the tourists during their tours. However, due to the present mating season when tourism is temporarily suspended, the safari vehicles are lying idle.
It is not known whether there was any driver to ferry the body in one of those safari vehicles on Thursday night. In the past a forest range officer named Eashwar had shown his kindness by ferrying the bodies of some Chenchus who had died in forest fire.
There is also an ambulance donated by Upasana Kamineni, the vice-chairperson of corporate social responsibility (CSR) at Apollo Hospitals, and an ambulance of Rural Development Trust (RDT), a non-government organisation (NGO) which works in that area.
Despite all these resources, a Guruvamma’s dead body couldn’t be shifted to her village.
Interventions of successive governors
It can be recalled that during the Covid-19 period, a Chenchu woman had delivered a baby outside Achampet Government hospital, which had raised much hue and cry at the time, also drawing the attention of the then governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan.
Soundararajan had also sanctioned Rs 50 lakh for two Royal Enfield ambulances and ‘Rajasri Chicks’ to the Chenchus of this area. The chicks have been hunted by eagles and the Royal Enfields are now with Nagarkurnool Red Cross Society, just because there was neither a system to maintain these vehicles, nor any funding for the fuel.
Even if well funded, these bikes may have carried a dead body, but not a patient on the kind of roads inside the core forest area. The great idea of two-wheeler ambulances fell apart, and the money vanished just like lakhs of crores spent on the Adivasis in no time.
However, the Nagarkurnool Red Cross Society got its new building as a gift for its services to the privileged individual. These are the allegations being made by the Chenchu leaders, who have not been given any account of how the funds were spent.
It was only after Chenchu leaders raising questions, that part of the former governor’s fund was returned. However, what happened to the returned amount, and what is happening to Rs 1 crore sanctioned by the present governor Vishnu Dev Varma needs to be monitored.
It is pertinent to mention that the present governor Vishnu Dev Varma has adopted Appapur gram panchayat, and has been taking steps to deliver the needs of the Chenchus with regard to providing self-employment, the results of which are yet to be seen.
There was a primary health centre (PHC) sanctioned for Appapur gram panchayat in the past, but it was shifted to Vatwarlapally gram panchayat which is located in the buffer-zone of the forest and falls on the Srisailam highway.
The Chenchus have represented multiple times to successive governors, district collectors, and ITDA project officers, requesting a primary health sub-centre for Appapur, with an ambulance, a doctor, and a nurse, so that the Chenchus, who are the primitive vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) could be attended to immediately when a healthcare need arises.
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