Peddakunta Thanda, a small tribal hamlet in Telangana’s Mahbubnagar district, not far from the State capital Hyderabad has become a tragic symbol of all that is wrong with our roads and how the poor have to pay the price of development.
The hamlet with 40 houses of Banjara community has turned into a “village of widows” all men from this place have died in accidents on the National Highway-44, that links Hyderabad with Bengaluru during last 5 years.
While the swanky four-lane highway reflects the dramatic development increasing the pace of travel between two metropolis, the project has spelled death and disaster for the hamlet as it was not provided any service road or a safe point for the residents to cross the Highway.
The eerie tragedy of the village, where the eldest male member is a six-year-old boy has now become the subject of a film by a Keralite youth Bijeesh Balan “Village of Widows: The Strange Story of Highway-44”.
“I was struck by the reports about the tragedy of this village with all male members falling victim to the road accidents and decided to portray it on the screen”, said Balan, who enlisted the help of his two friends to make 45 minutes documentary to highlight the sufferings of voiceless minority because of the development which benefits the majority.
While others may suspect something supernatural behind the tragedy, the illiterate Banjara women, mostly manual labor, have no such thoughts and curse the fact that the authorities did not care for them while planning a high speed bypass cutting them off from the outside world.
Traditionally the labourers from this hamlet used to walk 5 kms to Nandigam village to get work but ever since the NH-44 took its present shape of a four-lane express way it has become a deadly journey.
Balann who has been regularly interacting with the villagers say that it was not just the source of livelihood the residents have been deprived of. “For everything right from the school, community health center all the basic facilities have become out of reach thanks to this deadly road”, he said.
Balan wants to take the story of the village not only to nook and corners of the country but also abroad to highlight the wages of lopsided development and ignoring the marginalised people in planning such projects.
Balann was helped by his friends T Arun Kumar, lR Jayesh and Abhilash Illikkulam in realising the documentary film which will premier in the national Capital next month.
On a notice issued by the Hyderabad High Court the National Highway Authority of India contended that an under pass was provided to the village. But counsel for the villagers Rachana Waddepally pointed out that the under pass was far away from the hamlet rendering it completely useless for the residents. The court has ordered the authority and the local administration and police officials to under take a fresh survey and take necessary steps to help the villagers in crossing the road safefly.
According to the 2014 statistics road accidents claimed a whopping 141,000 lives in India out of which the two Telugu States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana accounted for 17,000. Telangana alone recorded 8,000 deaths in road mishaps.