About 8,000 families, predominantly downtrodden sections, of several remote and forested villages of Bangarupalem mandal along the Chittoor-Bengaluru NH, are still reeling under the impact of the COVID-19 second wave. Normalcy is yet to return here as curfew is still in force from afternoon.
Even during the gap between the first and second waves – from September last year till March this year – a large number of migrant families who are engaged as semi-skilled or unskilled construction workers in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka found it difficult to find work.
The slump in the construction sector has had its impact on brick kilns and saw mills in the border areas at the tri-State junction, forcing hundreds of workers to stay idle at home. Tanneries and textile units in the border towns of Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Tiruppur and other areas in Tamil Nadu also witnessed a fall in business throwing many youth from here out of jobs.
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In far-flung forested villages such as Keeramanda, Musallamadugu, Bandladoddi, Ragimanupenta, Eguva Bandarlapalle and Srinivasapuram, people are totally dependent on free rice from the government.
Job loss
"Our movement is totally curtailed. Being daily wagers, we buy our provisions on a daily basis after getting the day’s pay. Now, we have to wait till October for farm work to resume. Mango season is almost over and only a limited number of workers were engaged due to COVID restrictions. My two sons, who used to work in the construction field in Bengaluru, can’t go there for some more time," laments Sailaja, a 50-year-old farm worker in Bangarupalem.
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Ganesh, 26, of a forested village, says that he used to work as a security guard at a commercial complex at Jaya Nagar in Bengaluru. "Due to the lockdown, I lost my job in March last year. Several like me were thrown out of jobs. I will get back there and look for some work in September," he says.
Mandal Revenue Officer (Bangarupalem) Susheela tells The Hindu that the residents of these villages have been dependent on free ration rice since the lockdown commenced. "Apart from the government support, some NGOs are distributing provisions to them regularly," she adds.