Tucked away in the rugged hills of the Jaladam Valley in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district is the village of Gillaram, home to the Konda Reddi tribe, a Specially Vulnerable Tribes Group (PVTG). Cut off from the modern world, the Konda Reddis rely on ancient traditions to sustain their livelihood. Their survival strategies reflect a vanishing way of life.
The way of life of the Konda Reddi tribe is mainly based on cattle, which is a source of livelihood. The traditional houses of the Konda Reddis have retained their unique architectural appearance over the centuries.
Reaching Gillaram is an arduous journey, involving a four-kilometre trek over weather-beaten paths and crossing two hills. Located 15 kilometers from the temple town of Annavaram, the village’s remoteness leaves 30 families – about 130 people – dependent on short-term emergency solutions, such as being run by ‘dolls’ during health crises.
Cow dung banks
In Gillaram village, the cow is the backbone of life. Each family has a yoke and at least two oxen for farming, and cows to supplement the income.
Gomu Venkata Lakshmi, a mother of two says: “Our family has 30 cents worth of land, and we use oxen to cultivate it. “Manure acts as fertilizer for our crops and keeps farming costs down. It is used as an alternative to fertilizer for all our crops,” he said.
In the village, each family maintains a ‘dung storage area’ by storing dung in a designated area to be used for farming. “Our dependence on pesticides and fertilizers is very less because of the availability of cow dung compost,” said Ms. Venkata Lakshmi.
Cow dung improves soil fertility. In rural pockets of Andhra Pradesh, use of cow dung is rare except by organic farmers.
The Konda Reddi tribes of Gillaram village will plant paddy only in the Kharif season as the streams will dry up in the middle of the Rabi season, precisely in March. They are all small farmers who own a maximum of half a hectare supporting crops, mainly paddy.
Another Konda Reddi tribe farmer Gomu Malleswara Rao and his three brothers have 1.2 hectares of land which they have set aside for paddy cultivation. “All the families in our area grow paddy only to meet the needs of the family for the year. The maximum yield of paddy in each holding (less than half a hectare) is eight bags, each weighing 75 kg. The main purpose of paddy cultivation is to feed the family,” said Mr. Malleswara Rao.
a man of the tribe in his field in the city. Due to the lack of irrigation facilities, paddy is grown once a year, to meet the needs of the family. | Photo Credit: T. Appala Naidu
However, the Konda Reddi tribes are aggressive in the cultivation of commercial crops such as cashew, niger, chilli and cotton under the Podu farming method, where the forest is cleared for cultivation. Cashew requires less input cost while cotton requires higher input cost.
The size of the family plot depends on the number of years dedicated to clearing the forest for Podu cultivation. In the Eastern Ghats, the family size of the Konda Reddi tribe is undoubtedly the largest compared to any forest-dwelling tribe. In the Godavari valley, the Konda Reddi tribes still prefer to have more than ten children as per available official records.
‘Bhunga Houses’
This tribe has adopted a unique round-shaped house structure. The houses, built of circular mud walls and thatched roofs, resemble the Bhunga buildings of Gujarat’s Kachchh district.
In Gillaram village, families usually build two houses. “One house serves as a permanent residence. The second one, in a place called Seni Paka, is built in a field, where farming tools are kept, apart from serving as a place to guard the paddy fields during the day from monkeys and wild boars,” said Chellayamma Sadda. Seni Paka thatch is built with mud walls as its foundation.
Accompanied by her two children, Mrs. Chellayamma spends a lot of time in Seni Paka during the Kharif season to guard the paddy field. Tribes also built fences out of used sarees to protect paddy fields from monkeys and wild boars.
Conservation of nature
The Konda Reddi tribe preserves their traditional mud-walled houses by smearing the soil with cow dung which keeps the house warm in winter and cool in summer, a practice that has been handed down from generation to generation.
“It is a mandatory practice for each family to apply cow dung on the mud walls of our houses to keep them clean and resistant to rain. Cow dung gives the walls a unique color, and keeps the house free of insects and mosquitoes,” said 35-year-old Chadda Balamani, a young mother.
This simple but effective process ensures the longevity of their mud-bound houses, which can last for ten years.
“Cow dung is available in our village. We have been putting cow dung on the walls of our traditional houses for many years and it does not require investment in maintenance and upkeep. A mud-walled house can last at least ten years”, said Ms. Balamani.
Scheduled Location
Gillaram village (Routhulapudi Mandal) is one of the 56 tribal settlements that have been fighting to be included in the ‘5th Schedule Area’ to be eligible for inclusion under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Rampachodavaram). Only ‘Scheduled Area’ (5th Schedule of the Constitution) comes under the jurisdiction of ITDA.
The 56 tribal settlements in 10 Gram Panchayats of Shankavaram, Prathipadu and Routhulapudi Mandals in Kakinada district were earlier part of the erstwhile East Godavari district. All of them now fall in Kakinada district. The average population of Konda Reddi (PVTG), Manne Dora, Konda Dora and Konda Kammara tribes in 56 settlements is around 25,000.
According to Kakinada District Panchayat authorities, Grama Sabhas scheduled for 2019 have been canceled in many panchayats due to various administrative hurdles. ITDA-Rampachodavaram proposed to recommend these 56 settlements to be included in the ‘Scheduled Area’ based on the resolutions passed by the Grama Sabhas. The hill range, where a group of tribal pockets including the village of Jillaram is located, is home to lateite deposits.
On 23 December 2024, Scheduled Tribes Commission Member Andhra Pradesh Vadithya Sankar Naik held a meeting in Jillaram village to identify their challenges. This reporter was present at the meeting. The Konda Reddis of Jillaram village have shared their plight to get access to safe drinking water, power, road connectivity, and basic medical and health care.
“The revenue and other officials are preparing a proposal for road connection, a solar water tank and to ensure the arrival of medical and health workers once a month given the challenges of accessing the Village”, said Mr. Sankar Naik.
Jillaram village does not have a designated burial ground, forcing the Konda Reddi tribes to bury themselves in the forest.
Gomu Venkata Lakshmi and Chadda Balamani said; “Getting safe drinking water in the summer and getting timely health care are still our main needs. Our life is very challenging during monsoon”. The village does not have a school but the government has a small Anganwadi centre.
There is no suffix
Ironically, the Konda Reddis of Jillaram village dropped ‘Reddi’ as a suffix to their name as they mingled with non-castes over the decades. In the Godavari valley, the Konda Reddis are known by their name with Reddi suffixed to it. The village has also lost contact with its tribesmen in the Godavari Valley as they have not attended gatherings due to road closures and conditions.
Published – December 14, 2024 10:10 am IST
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