Telangana health officer treks 16km, wades through stream to hand over medicines to tribals | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: After wading through a stream in spate, climbing hills, and trekking 16km for over five hours, Allem Appaiah, district medical and health officer (DMHO) of Mulugu in Telangana, reached a remote hamlet in Wajedu mandal to deliver medicines, mosquito nets, and provisions to 11 tribal families.
The reason Appaiah undertook the arduous journey was not just to deliver essentials to the Guthi Koya tribe families, but also to request them to shift to plains, he said.
In a bid to understand their living conditions and day-to-day travails, Appaiah slept in the thanda in Penugolu village overnight on July 16. “It is hazardous for the families to live there. It will be extremely difficult to provide them medical facilities if there is an emergency in this monsoon season,” Appaiah told TOI. The thanda (settlement smaller than a village) is home to 39 people, including children below two years, who prefer to stay there.
At the request of the district administration, out of the 151 families residing in the village, 140 families shifted to the plains over the years. The 11 remaining families, however, indicated that if they were given houses close to the road and land to cultivate, they may consider the offer to shift.
Appaiah said by going to the place himself, he understood the difficulties health assistant Chinna Venkatesh, who goes there to deliver medicines, faces. On July 16, Appaiah set out from Mulugu and reached Wajedu. From there, he began the 16km trek. When TOI tried to contact him on July 16 night, his mobile was not accessible. “That is because it is difficult to even get a mobile signal there. It is thus that I requested the Guthi Koya families to shift to the plains, but they do not seem interested,” he said.
To reach the thanda, Appaiah crossed Kanchera vagu (stream) at three places. This stream joins the Bhogatha waterfalls. Appaiah crossed three hills on the trek. He was accompanied by six others, including his staff.
Damodar Raja Narasimha, state health minister, appreciated the efforts made by the DMHO and his team to reach out to the tribal families.