Sixty-five-year-old Dasari Gangavva used to dread election time caught between the outlawed Maoists and the police over a decade-and-a-half ago. But, not any more, in fact, she is looking forward to cast her vote in this once naxal-dominated village, tucked away on the Nizamabad-Rajanna Sircilla district border, about 200 kms from Hyderabad.
Manala falls under Balkonda Assembly constituency of Nizamabad district though the village and its hamlets have been merged in Rajanna Sircilla district a few years ago after creation of new districts.
Gangavva has come a long way from the time over a decade ago when she had to rush to Kammarpally police station, about 50 kms from the village, then in Nizamabad district to get her two sons and other youth released. She had to show the indelible ink mark on her finger to the police as proof that she had voted to get her children released from detention. In the 80’s and 90’s, the village was under the virtual grip of the naxalites.
Governance was a far cry as the fear of naxals forced government servants to avoid travelling to the village. This helped the Maoists to have a free run. The backwardness also prompted the locals to sympathise with the naxals and help them.
Help from ‘Annalu’, as the naxals were called, ensured that the far-flung village had a gravel road from Bhimnagar also known as Devakkapet in Kammarpally mandal covering 10 kms and also a nine-km gravel road that led the villagers to Rudrangi in then Karimnagar district. Locals joined hands to lay the gravel road, their means to the outside world.
Two major naxal-police face off led to the Maoist movement taking a heavy toll. It was in 2005, months after the talks with the PWG leaders and the then YSR-led government failed that a major encounter in the Manala forest led to killing of 10 armed naxalites. Another encounter resulting in the death of three key members of PWG and murder of over five villagers on the charge of being ‘covert’ changed the entire scenario in Manala, which had 16 hamlets under it.
Police gained steady access to the village organising a major health camp followed by the historic visit of the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to the village where he announced several developmental works including BT road connecting Kammarpally to Manala via Bheemnagar and Manala-Rudrangi road. This development set the pace for complete facelift to the village which was scarred and living under the threat of naxalites.
A four and half hour drive from Hyderabad criss crossing thick forest area, a ghat section takes one to this village of 10,000 population from the Nizamabad side on the eve of Assembly elections.
Earlier, rickety jeeps were the only source of transportation and during monsoon, the residents had a nightmare. Daily two bus services are operated by Bheemgal and Kortula bus depots connecting this village.
The slushy road would made our lives miserable, recalls Gangavva. “There was no way to take our sick women or pregnant ladies to hospital,” she said adding that there times when parents refused to give their daughters to men from Manala because of the lack of facilities.
“The very sight of an approaching vehicle would scare us so much that we ran away and hid ourselves,” recalls Jilla Dilip Kumar. “We were caught between the police and the naxals. Election time was the worst nightmare for all use. On one side the naxalites would warn us against voting. The police determined to foil the naxal call would camp in our village days before the poll. In a bid to avoid getting caught between the naxal-police one-upmanship, we would go to the nearby agriculture fields early in the morning only after the polling got over,” he said.
The elderly would be forced to queue up outside the polling station set up in the old Gram Panchayat building amid heavy security. “The hapless elderly people and women would cast their votes and rush back home lest they caught the attention of the naxals. Polling usually was low,” pointed out another man.
Many youth in a bid to escape police high handedness chose to go Gulf countries in search of employment. “Only after the situation became normal that we decided to return to the village,” says Raji Reddy, who was in Gulf for 18 years.
Today, the villagers are eager to cast their vote in the election, an unheard of situation over a decade ago. “Candidates of the BRS, Congress and the BJP have visited out village and the hamlets seeking votes,” said Jakku Mohan, a farmer.
Election mood is visible at the main centre of the village abutting the new Gram Panchayat building as flags of the parties flutter even as the villagers are busy in their daily schedule. Towering over 50-feet Martyr’s memorial for women constructed by the Maoists with the active support of the villagers in late 90’s stand mute witness to the sway of the outlawed extremists in their hey days. Small shops and eateries have cropped up around the memorial and it has become the place for the locals to sip tea and spend their evenings.
Agriculture operations are at its peak as the tractors whizz past you as this correspondent interacted with the locals. “We have 150 tractors to till 5000 acres and another 15,000 acres abutting the reserved forests,” remarked a villager.
Vice-president of Rudrangi mandal Bhumanna said the village has witnessed developmental works to the tune of ₹100 crore. “Manala of the 80’s was so different. Now, its all development and development alone. Youth of our village are studying in USA and Europe. We have youth groups that are active in village development,” he says.
The only issue confronting the village is lack of potable water during the summer. The ground water source is scarce and if we drill a bore, we are stuck at 40 feet as there is huge rock formation underneath. The Mission Bhagiratha pipelines have not been properly laid to provide potable drinking water to the households. There is a purified mineral water plant set up by the Gram Panchayat that caters to the drinking water needs of the locals as of now. Another plea is for establishment of a bank as people have to travel to Rudrangi, nine kms away for all banking work.
Overall, a transformed Manala has come a long way from the fear of bullets and eagerly awaiting ballot as the election day approaches.
