Last minute bidding for diagnostic facilities

2003
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 23: After ailines, it's the turn of the medical sector in the State to offer online and last minute bidding for diagnostic tests and surgery. Come July 1 and as many as 50 common surgeries will be sold for just Re 1.
Doctor Munnabhai Technologies, which recently launched bidding for diagnostic tests, has now opened common surgeries for as low as Re 1 at corporate hospitals. "Surgery at Re 1" offer includes surgeon's fee, anaesthetist's fee, nursing charges, operation theatre charges and general ward accommodation for specified number of days.
All that the patient has to do is to pay the cost of medicines and disposables. Patients are free to purchase these items from the hospital or bring them from outside on their own. The scheme is valid up to August 30. And from September 1, surgeries will be sold through bidding on internet, mobile phone sms or in person.
Doctors, however, are sceptical of the scheme and doubt the quality of the service provided to patients. "Bidding for airlines is OK. It is unethical to bid on one's health. Unless surgeons and hospitals offer heavy discounts or take up charity, it's not possible to offer surgery at Re 1", argues eminent plastic surgeon Dr N Hemant Kumar.
General surgeon Dr B Ramesh Rao welcomes the idea of highly subsidised charges for common surgeries but doubts the viability of the project since the fee hospitals pay to surgeons and anaesthetists is fairly good. He also does not agree with the concept of opening the health sector for open auction. Dr Ramesh feels that there may be some hidden charges as otherwise it may not be possible for hospitals to conduct surgeries at such an unbelievable price.
"This is a special offer where almost 50 kinds of surgeries are sold everyday without any frills, one of each kind, on a first come first served basis to non-emergency patients", says Dr Shantan Reddy, director of Doctor Munnabhai 24x7. Patients can rest assured as the surgeon being nominated will be an experienced one. The charges for the surgeon are included in the Re 1 package as the surgeon is employed by the hospital.
Noted surgeon Dr Viswas Naik does not agree with Dr Shantan Reddy. Says he, "Bidding for diagnostic tests is welcome since machines are involved. You can put hundreds of patients under machines for tests. But in case of surgeries, human life is involved. It is unethical to introduce bidding for surgeries".
"We provide services during off-peak hours/period and utilise the perishable services to generate additional revenues. Like airlines, hospitals too have perishable services like equipment time, hospital rooms, doctors' time and operation theatre time. If not used by the end of the day, they are wasted", clarifies Dr Shantan Reddy.

Munna Bhai system for hospitals

2003
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 16: Gone are the days when you enter a corporate hospital or a diagnostic centre and silently pay whatever bill is thrust into your hands. Now you can quote your own price through a telephone bidding for any of the diagnostic tests on offer.
Enter the world of open auction in health. Like in airlines, you can participate in the health bidding, quoting as little as Rs 1500 for an MRI scan costing Rs 6,500 or Rs 500 for a plan CT scan which otherwise is available for Rs 2,500. Ordinary lab tests can be had for a mere Rs 25 per test.
But the only hitch is that you have to wait for three days to a week to get the tests done or you may have to visit the hospital at an untimely hour. In some cases, you may simply get the report sans the film, which is quite costly. Those requiring urgent medical tests have no option but to pay the price fixed by the hospital or the diagnostic centre. You may also not get the hospital of your choice.
A group of corporate hospitals and diagnostic centres in Hyderabad has now come out with a novel concept of utilising non-peak hours by offering medical tests at highly discounted prices through open auction. The savings range between 25 and 75 per cent depending on one's requirement, choice of healthcare provider and urgency.
Introduced for the first time in the country by Hyderabad-based Doctor Munnabhai Technologies P Limited, the concept of medical bidding is fast catching up with patients. Inspired by Sanjay Dutt-starrer Munnabhai MBBS, the company has enrolled a group of hospitals and diagnostic centres for the novel offer, "Doctor Munnabhai 24x7".
"There's no compromise on the quality. The reports are accurate since the tests are conducted on the same machines. We are able to offer tests at discounted prices by utilising non-peak hospital hours, say 6 am to 9 am and 8 pm to 12 midnight. Even at the discounted rate of Rs 1500, some hospitals make a profit of Rs 300, if the number of films is restricted. We at Image have been offering MRI scan for Rs 2,950 for the past one year. We give utmost priority to quality and accuracy as our reports are open to disputes in consumer fora", says eminent gastroenterologist Dr CL Venkat Rao who is also a director of Image Hospitals.
And how do hospitals make the profit by offering huge discounts? According to Dr Venkat Rao, the prices vary from patient to patient. "Many hospitals do not charge anything for white ration cardholders. For others they charge at normal rates", he clarifies.
It is not that every patient who participates in the bidding gets the tests done at discounted prices. The bids every day. Sometimes a patient may be lucky to get MRI scan done for just Rs 1500 or he may have to pay even Rs 5000 for the same test.
"Our concept works on the lines of airlines operators. Like airlines have introduced bidding for their vacant seats, we are offering discounts for tests at non-peak hours. We have been receiving about 100 calls a day since the concept was introduced on May 7 and 50 per cent of the callers have availed of discount benefits. Patients need not worry about the quality as the hospitals and diagnostic centres covered in our promotional campaign are of top standard", points out Mohan Kaushik, vice-president (marketing) of the company.
The company has opened a website offering a plethora of medical and health services both for patients and doctors. All they have to do is to participate in the bidding at the stipulated hour and quote their own price tag.
There are five offers on the website for patients to choose form. In the "Instabuy" offer, a patient can save up to 25 per cent on diagnostic tests if he or she required it immediately. One can save up to 50 per cent in the "Bidbuy" offer but will have to wait for a maximum of three days.
Patients may join Munnabhai Club and participate in auction for various tests. The auction starts at Re.1. Munnabhai will choose the healthcare provider but appointment may take a week.
Dr Venkat Rao, however, feels that hospitals may not sustain the heavy discounts for a long time. It is just a promotional offer. The prices may change at a latter date.
Senior radiologist Dr B Murali says it is possible to conduct tests at discounted prices if the number of films in MRI scan is brought down. "We take a series of films for MRI scan. Each film costs about Rs 300. If we take 10 films, the cost goes up to Rs 3000. The report is given to the patient without or with a limited number of films", he clarifies.
Though Apollo Hospitals is included in the Munnabhai list, it has backed out of the discounts offer.

MTAR Technologies develops grid plate for prototype fast breeder reactor

2003
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, March 13: India on Sunday crossed another milestone in its nuclear programme with city-based MTAR Technologies developing indigenous technology for "Grid Plate", a crucial component of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor.
"We have realised this technology for the first time in the world. Our nuclear programme is self-reliant. We are making a transition into domains which others have not made. With the development of the Grid Plate technology India has demonstrated that it can chart on territories which others have not yet ventured into", Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar said after formally handing over the technology to Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.
Dr Kakodkar felt that India would eventually usher into inexpensive nuclear electricity regime with a unit of power costing just Rs 2. Dr Baldev Raj, director of IGCAR, said India would soon become a "nuclear guru".
Stating that fast breeder reactors are the only option to meet the increasing demand for power in near future. India is one of the seven countries in the world to build up necessary research and development base for commercialisation of FBR technology.
Prototype fast breeder reactor is a 500 MWe sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. Grid Plate forms an important component of PFB reactor. Grid Plate is a box type structure with bolted construction. The shell assembly is bolted at its periphery to top and bottom plates, which are interconnected by 1758 sleeves. The material of construction is special grade SS 316LN with stringent control on chemical composition and supplementary requirements on mechanical properties and non-destructive examinations. It weighs about 80 tonnes.
"Grid Plate is accorded highest safety classification with stringent manufacturing and inspection requirements. MTAR has specially constructed a large workshop and established the requisite facilities like SPM, large size heat treatment furnace and nuclear clean hall", MTAR chief executive Brig V Sreeramulu said.
It may be recalled that for the fast breeder thermal reactor project, the Grid Plate was the only component that was made in France, in 1976, due to the critical technology involved in its manufacture.
Baldev Raj said the country had been constructing eight nuclear reactors at a cost of Rs 22,000 crore.
The AEC is still working on the proposal to set up a nuclear research and development unit at Visakhapatnam, Anil Kakodkar told reporters later.

Narsapur lace and crochet works all set to make a fashion statement

2002
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Dec 30: Narsapur lace and crochet works are all set to make a fashion statement in the international market.
The city-based National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training and the National Institute of Fashion Technology are roping in international fashion names like the Harrods, Mark Spencer, Mother Care and Wall Mart for a fashion event showcasing the Naraspur lace and crochet works including lingerie. The fashion show will be held in the city sometime in March. The All-India Crochet Lace Exporters' Association and the Naraspur Lace Park will co-sponsor the first-ever fashion show of lace garments.
NISIET, a Central government body, plans to develop marketing linkages between Narsapur, a sleepy village on the banks of the river Godavari in West Godavari district, and international chain of super stores based in London and other major cities in the world.
Lace garments are in great demand in the international market but most of lace weavers in Narsapur prepare traditional products like doilies and table mats. The NISIET provided training to the artisans introducing international quality standards and creating international marketing networks. About two lakh women are involved in the lace work for the past 150 years in and around Narsapur.
"The idea is to make Narsapur cluster into a global sourcing point for crochet lace garments. New products like designer garments and lingerie will be introduced. For a pair of beach wear of crochet lace for women it will take 200 gms of yarn and will take three days work for an artisan to lace. The artisan will fetch about 15 US dollars in international market. We are ensuring that the product comes out with international quality standards like non bleeding and fastness of colour and colour standard under precipitation," says NISIET technical adviser YVS Mahadev.
As a prelude to the fashion show the NISIET has provided the artisans with patterns compact discs for prototype development. The total turnover of Narsapur lace market is Rs 50 crore. The NIFT is now training women artisans in advance fashion courses like crochet language and design pattern.
"An interesting aspect of the work force in the Narsapur cluster is the existence of specialized labour groups in the form of housewives, who take up part-time knitting. The fashion show will be great boon for them," Mahadev said.

Charminar Bank never received Rs 38 crore it had deposited in the scam-tainted Krushi Cooperative Bank

2002
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Dec 1: Charminar Bank never received Rs 38 crore it had deposited in the scam-tainted Krushi Cooperative Bank. It was only in the books of account that the deposits were withdrawn and encashed.
In a startling revelation, the auditors of Charminar Bank noted that the "transaction raises high suspicion about the genuineness of the receipts of cash and also their disbursement as loans".
The Charminar Bank simply made book adjustments showing that the Krushi Bank had repaid the cash deposit after it came to know that the Krushi Bank might collapse any moment under the impact of large-scale financial irregularities. The Charminar authorities, fearing that their murky financial dealings would be out once the Krushi Bank collapsed, made hurried entries in their records to show that Krushi had returned the deposit in instalments. But in reality Krushi Bank never repaid the money to Charminar. This simply means that the size of the scam in the Krushi Bank is Rs 73 crore and not just Rs 35 crore which the investigating authorities believe.
The murky dealings in the Charminar Bank came to light in the audit report carried out by chartered accountants Prema Gopal and Company. Charminar Bank has deposited with Krushi Bank in the form of fixed deposit Rs 38 crore on July 29, 1998 and reportedly withdrew it in phases between March and August 2001. The Bank collapsed in mid-August 2001.
The State government has ordered an inquiry into the entire transaction between Charminar and Krushi Bank. Hyderabad district cooperative officer has been asked to submit report on the murky dealings. According to Charminar Bank managing director V Prabhakar, "the truth will come out when the DCO gives his report. We will initiate action accordingly".
The audit reports says, "entries were passed in the books of the Charminar Bank as if cash has been received from Krushi Bank by a particular branch on a particular day. these branches transferred the same amount on the same day to Purani Haveli branch. Again the same day the same amount was transferred to different branch/branches by Purani Haveli branch and those amounts were shown as given to different parties the same day as loans. The series of transactions, particularly in some cases with different denominations recorded in the books of different branches for the same amount on the same dates raises high suspicion about the genuineness of the receipts of cash and also their disbursement as loans".
According to the audit report cash was deposited by Krushi Bank in Purani Haveli branch without there being any account with the branch. Even the current account in the James Street branch was opened on March 27 a few days after the payment was said to have been made.
The cooperative department is eagerly awaiting the arrest of Krushi chief K Venkateswara Rao, whose interrogation will bring the truth behind the Charminar-Krushi transactions.

This graveyard has no `room' for marriages, say Islamic elders

By Syed Akbar
Published in Indian Express on April 22, 1999
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 21: A major controversy is raging in the Muslim community in coastal Andhra over the decision by a group of Telugu Desam Party leaders to construct a shadi-khana (marriage hall) over a piece of graveyard at Bhavanipuram in the city.
The move is strongly opposed by Islamic scholars on the ground that no structure should be constructed over any graveyard, which is a notified Wakf property. Construction over a graveyard, whether in use or abandoned, is against the principles of Shariah (Islamic jurisprudence) and established Wakf laws of India.
While the TDP leaders plan to go ahead with their move and invite Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to lay the foundation stone for the `Shadi-khana-cum-ITI complex', a section of Muslim scholars threatened to launch an indefinite fast to lodge their protest.
Ever since the State Government announced that it would construct shadi-khanas in all districts for the benefit of Muslims, the district Wakf committees concerned have startedidentifying vacant Wakf lands, in some cases even graveyards. And as the State Assembly polls are drawing closer, some enthusiastic TDP leaders, particularly those in the party's minorities cell, are keen to launch the project, without thinking of the religious implications.
Senior Advocate Syed Ahmad Ali dashed off a letter to the Chief Minister urging his intervention against construction of marriage or community halls or any structure on Wakf lands, particularly graveyards. He appealed to him to issue instructions to all district collectors and the Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board to implement the orders.
The Krishna district Wakf committee, represented mostly by TDP minorities cell activists, has drawn up a plan to construct a marriage hall over two acres of the 6.90-acre graveyard abutting the Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway here. The land, a notified Wakf property, has been in use as a graveyard for several decades.
A part of the graveyard was encroached upon and it was used for agriculturalpurpose. However, the encroachments were removed with the intervention of the Wakf Board. A few months ago, a wall was constructed dividing the graveyard into two.
Krishna district Wakf committee president and TDP leader AR Afsar, when contacted, said the shadi-khana would be constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. The State Government agreed to pay Rs 25 lakh, he said adding that efforts were on to bring the CM for the foundation-stone ceremony.
He disputes the contention that the land was never used as a graveyard, though some traces of graves existed.
Noted religious scholar and head-priest of the city's biggest Jamia mosque, Maulana Abdul Qadeer, argues that a graveyard is inalienable even after it has been closed. And a land dedicated for a graveyard will always remain a graveyard even if it has fallen into decay and even if traces of the dead are not left.
If anything is built on an obsolete graveyard the community has a right to get it demolished as it will be in contravention of theoriginal purpose of dedication.
Citing various judgments of Supreme Court, Abdul Azeez of the Muslim Minorities Forum, points out that the nature of a graveyard will not alter simply because it was not so used in recent years. Once a mosque or graveyard is created, they remain always as mosque or graveyard. They cannot be utilised for any other purpose even though prayers are offered or not offered in the mosque and graveyard remains as graveyard only though dead are buried or not being buried into it.

Reward us, not Naxal, wail AP tribal women

Published in The Indian Express on Tuesday, March 16, 1999
By Syed Akbar
Pedamallapuram (AP), March 15: The tribal women of Pedamallapuram, a far-flung hamlet in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, are furious once again. This time, their ire is directed at the state government for its decision to announce a reward of Rs 5 lakh to a Naxalite leader who surrendered recently.
Pedamallapuram captured newspaper headlines all over the country last year when its illiterate and ill-clad tribal women raised a banner of revolt against Naxalites. So strong was the women's movement that Naxalites of the People's War Group (PWG) did not venture to enter the village for a full six months. But, one night they attacked defenceless villagers and killed two Dalits including an MPTC member.
The attack notwithstanding, the tribal women continued to fight the Naxalites and even imposed a ban on alcohol. Men who violated the diktat were tonsured and paraded in public.
Today the Pedamallapuram women are angry with the state government. The reason: Announcement of a reward of Rs 5 lakh tosurrendered PWG East division committee leader Pilli Venkatesam alias Jambri, whom the women hold responsible for all the woes they face now. ``He is behind all the violent attacks on us. We lost two of our people because of him'', the women said arguing whether it was proper on the part of the government to reward a Naxalite leader responsible for the killing of innocent Dalits.
And what do the women want? They demand that the reward which the state government has announced be utilised for the development of Pedamallapuram.
``Let there be a hospital or a pucca road be laid with the amount,'' suggested tribal women movement leader Ramulamma and Bodoju Ganga, wife of slain MPTC member Venkateswara Rao. The women made it clear in unequivocal terms that they would not tolerate the government paying the reward to Jambri. ``We were the ones beaten up and we who lost everything. We have been living in fear. The money should come to our village and not to the Naxalite leader,'' the women pointed out inchorus.
They said they were least bothered about Jambri or his surrender. All they wanted was that the government should not reward those who caused harm to others. Recalling the promise of Jambri in writing that the Naxalites would do no harm to the village and if they did the villagers would be paid compensation, Ramulamma wondered how the Naxalite leader would accept the Government's largesse. They demanded that Jambri visit Pedamallapuram and explain his role.
Though the women are against the Naxalites, they seem to have no personal enmity with Jambri, who headed the Nagulakonda dalam. ``He may not be directly involved in the attacks, but as the Dalam leader he should own the responsibility,'' they said ridiculing the way the Naxalite surrendered along with his wife on `health grounds' and was seeking the reward, which the government announced as part of its general policy towards surrendered Naxalites. The tribal women also questioned the committees formed by Jambri.
The committees, mostlycomprising non-tribals, should leave the village, they demanded. The Naxal had earlier warned the villagers against accepting benefits from the government and his turnabout in accepting cash from the government in return for his surrender has understandably infuriated the women of the village.

Financier is king in coastal Andhra's sex industry

The Indian Express, December 9, 1998
By Syed Akbar
PEDDAPURAM, DEC 8: The "financier" enters Lakshmi's life when she is fined by the court. He is there, outside the court, waiting with the money. She doesn't need to give any guarantee, it just work on ``mutual trust,'' Lakshmi should repay in daily installments with 40 per cent interest. The problem is he never leaves her life.
Nor that of the owner of brothel who bought her on a contract. It was the financier who bankrolled the deal. ``We have to bear the rest of our expenditure like purchase of cosmetics, clothes and medicines and obtaining bail whenever remanded to judicial custody. At times we run short of money. That is when the financiers come to our rescue,'' says Lakshmi (not her real name), a sex worker.
The financiers fund the `companies' and rule the `trade' in the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh, where sex is an industry and where they use euphemisms from the business lexicon to describe prostitution and related thing. Everyone plays the game according to the financier's rules.
As many as 200 financiers get the sex industry going in the infamous red light areas of East and West Godavari districts. They collect exorbitant interests -- up to 40 per cent -- on the money they lend to ``company owners'', read brothel-owners, and sex workers.
According to insiders, the money involved in the `finance business' here runs into at least Rs 50 crore. The daily turnover is a little over Rs 10 lakh. Such financiers are mainly concentrated in towns such as Peddapuram,Duvva, Tadepalligudem, Tanuku, Velpuru, Rajahmundry and Eluru.
Here's how it works: First, a broker brings the news to a `company' owner about a `new arrival' from a certain place or about the availability of a `fresh face'. The company owner then approaches the financier, who in turn ``personally assesses the quality of the product''.
Only if he is satisfied that the `product' is `saleable' in the market and reimburses the investment along with high profits, the financier hands over the money to the company owner who takes the woman oncontract. The money is repaid in daily installments.
While a middle-aged sex-worker fetches Rs 5,000 on a three-month contract period, those in the teens command as much as Rs 25,000 a month. This investment is borne by the financiers, who recover the money before the contract expires.
The financiers of the sex industry operate from both sides. They finance the company owners as well as sex-workers for their daily needs. While the sum involved is large in the case of company owners, who maintain as many as 25 to 40 sex workers, it is just a few thousand rupees in the case of individual sex-workers.
Whenever the police raid brothels and produce sex-workers before court, the financiers rush there with money. They pay the fine imposed on individual sex-workers and bear the expenditure involved in obtaining bail. Once the sex-workers are free and resume work, the money invested is collected.
In some cases money is advanced towards renovation of brothels with latest luxuries like revolving beds and lovelyrooms with mirrors all around. Some brothels here, a policeman says, beat star hotels in terms of facilities.
G Venkateswara Rao, a financier, proudly says that his area of operation extends to places like Mumbai, where a large number of sex-workers from Andhra Pradesh are holed up. He finances the expenditure incurred by individuals who seek a ``lucrative career'' in Mumbai or northern cities on `contract' for a specified period.
``There is no need for a surety or guarantor. Everything functions smoothly on mutual trust,'' he says.
According to a senior police officer, each financier makes not less than Rs 50,000. Asked why the police did not crack down on the financiers, he expresses helplessness in the absence of complaints. ``Moreover, financing is not a crime,'' he adds.

Devadasis: Slave to tradition

1998

By Syed Akbar
VIJAYAWADA, DEC 6: Despite the efforts of voluntary organisations to abolish the Devadasi system, it flourishes in the interiors of Andhra Pradesh. Only, the creed of exploiters has changed. Where the Devadasi (servant of God) once served the entire village, she is today a pawn in the hands of influential politicians.
Local politicians in Khammam and Krishna districts organise Bhogam Melas in honour of visiting dignitaries, some of whom are top political leaders. Women are invited and a mela is held in a remote place. The women perform semi-nude or nude dances and entertain the guests after the programme.

The Bhogam and Dommera communities believed that their women were born to ``serve the deity''. Once offered to God as Devadasis, the women became the property of the village. Social circumstances and economic compulsions forced them to leave their profession of serving the deity through their art in various temples of the State, particularly in the Krishna, East and West Godavaridistricts.

The Bhogam community owes its origin to the Devadasi system prevalent in many villages of South India, Andhra Pradesh in particular. The Devadasis are called Bhogams or Kalavanthulu in Krishna and East and West Godavari districts, Matangis in Nellore and Prakasam and Jogins in Telangana.

The girl offered to the temple by the Bhogam community would look after the temple's religious needs.

Dance being considered a form of worship, the girls were trained in various types of the art form. They used to perform before the deity and in the process, entertain the village.

In the last 200 years, the system turned into one of organised prostitution. Some of the Devadasis have taken to the `respectable' profession of `record dancing', giving semi-nude performances during marriages or social gatherings.

Chinagollapalem: Island goes into slow dissolve

September 20, 1998
The Indian Express
By Syed Akbar
Nature's laws affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws, you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury and hangman. This prophetic warning by eminent ecologist Eugene P. Odum appears to have become a reality in Chinagollapalem, a picturesque island in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district.
The 6,000-acre island with 7,000 inhabitants is on the verge of extinction. Already 20 per cent of it has practically disintegrated into the Bay of Bengal. Every day, seawaters lash it brutally, wave after wave. Environmentalists warn that if no immediate steps are taken to prevent sea erosion, the island could disappear from the Indian map over the next 20 years.
Denudation of mangrove forests in the vicinity, the unchecked pollution in the Kolleru lake that straddles it and the construction of an artificial outlet for the Upputeru rivulet have all taken their toll on Chinagollapalem.In fact, the case of Chinagollapalem is nothing short of what could be termed ``environmental retaliation''. K.Satyanarayana is a victim of this ``retaliation''. A decade ago, he was a rich landlord owning 40 acres of lush green coconut orchards and causurina gardens. Today, he has been reduced to penury, and survives on the largesse of village elders.
The single cause for this unfortunate transformation in Satyanarayana's life is sea erosion. The sea has ``eaten'' as much as 1,000 acres in the last 15 years, making many a landlord join the swelling ranks of the landless poor. In a pathetic incident that occurred some years ago, a woman called Padma committed suicide, unable to bear her husband's impoverishment after the land given to him as part of her dowry was completely eroded.
With the state Government preferring to turn a blind eye to this serious environmental tragedy unfolding before its very eyes, it looks like many more are destined to go the way of Satyanarayana and others like him. Ministers and senior officials have visited the island a number of times.
But ironically, the government machinery isyet to act. Says Uday Kumar, a senior agriculturist who has been living on this island for five decades, ``The state Government gives an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of victims who die in natural calamities. We are 7,000 people. How will ex-gratia amounts help us? Will the Chief Minister think of remedial steps only after we are washed away by the sea?''
Soil erosion has assumed such alarming proportions in Chinagollapalem island that in the past six months alone, the sea has progressed about three metres landward. And the pace gets accelerated during full moon and new moon days when the waves are high. Five kilometres of the eight-kilometre-long island are facing erosion. Huge causurina and coconut trees fall down almost every day along the coast as the soil that had once held them is carried away by the waters. At places, one can discern the process taking place with the naked eye, as small clumps of sand and mud get carried away by sea waters with every wave.
Chinagollapalem islocated amidst striking natural beauty, with the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Upputeru rivulet on the other three. The island is highly fertile and luxuriant, with thousands of coconut and causurina trees. There are also large mango, sapota and cashewnut orchards dotting the island. Incidentally, it is also the home of some rare mangrove species. The main income for the inhabitants is through agriculture, though some of them live on fishing.
There are a few government schools but no hospitals or roads. At times villagers die before medical attention reaches them. The nearest full-fledged hospital for the islanders is 20 km away at Bhimavaram, in West Godavari district, or 50 km at Gudiwada, in Krishna district. What makes handling medical emergencies even more difficult is the serious lack of transportation facilities to the mainland and from there to the nearby towns.
The problem of sea erosion for the islanders is not new. It started 15 years ago, but at a much slower pace. The phenomenon continueduntil 1994, when it suddenly stopped, much to the relief of the inhabitants. But the problem resurfaced in September 1997 and has become even more pronounced since March this year.
Soil erosion here can be termed as ``land drifting'', since the soil from the Chinagollapalem island is carried away and deposited about two km away, seawards. Thanks to this process, a new 300-acre island was formed a few years ago. It served a useful function since it used to protect the old island from being directly attacked by the sea. But since last September, the new island as well as the old island started getting eroded. Now a third island is getting formed right in the middle of the sea, about a kilometre from the second island. Environmentalists are at a loss to explain the phenomenon, while the villagers blame it on the ``lopsided'' policy of the state Government.
Panchayat president K. Hanumanth Rao clarified that the erosion started only after the Government dug up a channel to the Upputeru rivulet in order todivert the excess water from its natural course. Says Rao: ``Our woes started with the new channel. We are cut off from the mainland and the sea started eating away our lands.'' ``The sea has encroached upon my fields up to a metre since August 12. Twenty high-yielding coconut trees were washed away in just one month,'' says 35-year-old Tamba Satyanarayana, pointing to his six-acre orchard, which is now reduced by half. To supplement the lost income, he and his wife have been catching prawn seedlings. ``I will be on streets if something is not done to stop the erosion,'' he says.
But even as the islanders curse their fate, officials plead helplessness. ``It's a natural phenomenon and no one can do anything to stop it,'' says a senior official who does not want to be quoted. But when confronted with the villagers' argument that it is not a natural occurrence but a ``government-made'' one, the official has no answer.