Over 150 Gothi Koyas from several habitations in the forests came in a rally to the District Collector here on Monday to pour out their woes and also to seek the Collector’s intervention in solving their problems.
Led by the Human Rights Forum general secretary V S Krishna and others, the tribals submitted a memorandum to the Joint Collector K Amoy Kumar. The tribals from Maddimadugu in Maha Muttaram mandal said scores of forest department personnel descended on their habitation and demolished their huts on April 28 and since they were staying under open sky braving harsh summer. Many of the tribals were hired by the civil contractor and forest officials in nurseries but were not paid for the labour.
One Badisha Rakesh from Devunigutta hamlet in Govindaraopet mandal said their huts were burnt down by the forest officials on April 21 and they also beat up Madkam Madhu and Madam Jyothi severely.
A tribal woman Mutsaki Somidi from Koyyagudem in Govindaraopet mandal said she was beaten up by the forest officials. They pulled down all the 30 huts and rendered them shelterless. This was the second time that officials raided this habitation. sMr Krishna said several Gothi Koya tribals from Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Venkatapur mandal migrated to forests are in Bhupalpalli in search of livelihood and shelter. Over the years, many of them got ration cards and Aadhar cards.
However, the innocent tribals were being harassed by the local farmers and the forest officials exploiting their situation. The joint collector promised to sort out their problems soon.
