They are adversaries and often sparring. But an impending adversity brought the best out of them. It was simply being human. The Lambada inhabitants of the far-flung Bhimjiguda tanda in Pittabongaram gram panchayat in Indervelli mandal of Adilabad district will vouch for this.
The Adivasis and the Lambadas here do not share a pleasant relationship. But Pendur Nago Rao, a Raj Gond aboriginal villager from nearby Shivguda, did not hesitate to reach Bhimji tanda and alert nearly 200 families about the impending flood that would hit their village.
He had sensed that the tank near his village would breach any time as it was receiving heavy inflows from hill streams and would drown the Lambada tanda.
Timely warning
“We are grateful to Nagu (Nago Rao) for his warning,” acknowledged Jadhav Parshuram. “We were able to evacuate people and material from the vulnerable spots in the village due to the early warning given by him,” he said recalling the events of the day, which could have been calamitous.
“Flooding of the tank started at 9 a.m. and within half an hour, it was evident that the structure would not withstand the water pressure. We decided to warn the Lambadas living in Bhimji tanda about 500 metres downstream as their habitation is directly in the local stream’s flow line into which the water will get discharged,” remembered Pendur Lalshau, one of the seven Gonds who were witness to nature’s fury following the first spell of heavy rainfall in the area on August 17.
Happy ending
“We were not scared for our lives as our village is located on a higher spot. We were scared for the residents of the tanda,” confessed Kumra Bheem Rao.
With the warning, about 20 children from the Anganwadi centre and about 10 farmers working in the fields moved to a nearby higher place. They returned a few hours later after the water receded.
“When the Gonds came to the village once the floodwater receded to check whether we were safe, I thought they had come to crosscheck if all the Lambadas in the tanda had washed away or not,” said Jadhav Savitrabai, albeit in a lighter vein.
