Digital bills for liquor regulars

Liquor regulars will get barcode liquor and computer generated bills for their liquor purchases from April1in the state.

State government came out with ‘Barcode’ liquor sales to control the sale of spurious liquor and also selling objectionable liquor at bar and wine shops.

The barcode liquor bottles at bars and wines and also sale of liquor at liquor depots will be computerized and correlated with the sales at liquor depots, wine shops and bars.

The excise department is conducting meetings with wine and bar shop license holders in all the districts and appealing them to sale barcode liquor and issue computer generated bills to the customers from April1 in the state.

Already the bar code system as far as liquor sale is concerned is being implemented at liquor depots and with this official liquor sales are computerized in the state.

Adilabad excise superintendent Anitha said, “ we have received instructions from the state government to ensure the sale of barcode liquor at Bars and wines to control the spurious liquor, mixing spurious liquor with the government supplied liquor and added that every liquor bottle will have bar code on it and that will be computerized”.

Liquor sales increased many folds following the incidents of excise and police departments started crackdown over manufacturing units of gudumba (illicit distilled liquor) and seizing the material used in manufacturing gudumba in the district.

Excise officials had conducted meetings with the license holders of wine and bar shops and also police to motivate them to extend their support in controlling the spurious liquor in the Telangana state.     

Union Budget- 2016: Employees hope for more tax relief

State and Central government employees who got a considerable salary hike recently have pinned hopes on increasing the upper limit up to Rs 6 lakh from the existing Rs 3.5 lakh including Rs 1.5 lakh savings in the Union Budget-2016.

Most of the Central government employees got a good salary hike and they have crossed tax exemption limit. The 10^th pay revision committee recommendations have boosted the salaries of the central government employees.  

Most of the employees are looking forward to Central government’s positive decision of increasing upper limit for income tax exemption.

A state government employee Singaram Udaykumar of Adilabad town said, even a regular attender is getting Rs 25,000 per month in the government departments and will be taxed for crossing Rs 2 lakh upper limit under income tax exemption.

He said the employees are waiting for the hike in income tax exemption for the last three years but disappointed and added that even some of the retired employees are also paying income tax for crossing the exemption limit.

Telangana government led by the TRS has increased salaries to the state to government employees as it promised during the agitation and most of the employees got a good hike in their salaries. Now they are looking for saving options to be within the income tax exemption limit.

Now, it's henchmen who decide who gets house

Some political leaders’ henchmen are preparing lists of the bogus beneficiaries for double bedroom houses (2BKH) to be allotted to poor and slum dwellers in the Adilabad district.

Adilabad’s revenue officials recently cancelled the pattas issued to the 191 house sites out of total 1,279 house sites after conducting a survey recently after many complaints were lodged in this regard.

These house sites had been allotted in 2013 under Indiramma phase –III under BPL families in 2013 and not having house in survey number 170 under Mavala Grampanchayat in Adilabad mandal.

According to sources, the Revenue officials conducted survey into only 890 house sites out of total allotted 1,279 and found 191 beneficiaries ineligible, officials could not found 194 beneficiaries who claimed that they were staying in rented houses.

Revenue officials found that more than 191 beneficiaries were ineligible as they were government employees to whom the government had already granted sites in the past, or they had their own houses elsewhere and were staying in the rented houses as they claimed.         

Here too, political leaders are alleged to have got their sidekicks to ensure that the persons who got the government lands and erected huts there were poor and are eligible for pattas so that they will get eligibility for the double bedroom houses. 

These men were showing the fake beneficiaries to be genuine to the revenue officials who were conducting their survey to identify the truly deserving in Bangaruguda village in Adilabad mandal where, on 1,200 plots, nearly 600 huts and some pucca houses came up on the occupied land.

Minister Jogu Ramanna promised the villagers to sanction 600 double bedroom houses to slum dwellers at Bangaruguda recently while laying a foundations stone to the Urdu medium school building.

Allegations are gathering strength to the effect that Revenue officials colluded with the henchmen in making the ineligible ‘eligible’ for this purpose.  

Demand has created for the house sites after Minister announcing the sanction of double bed rooms to the slum dwellers of Bangaruguda and revenue official’s plan to issue pattas to the already occupied house sites.

Aam Admi party leader Rasheed alleged that single person had occupied more than one plot, some of the people those were already got government house sites in the past again occupied plots on benami names at Bangaruguda.

He said, henchmen of political leaders were collecting Rs 30,000 – Rs 50,000 each from the bogus beneficiaries to ensure patta to house site in order to get double bedroom houses.  

Adivasis remember Haimondorf

Adivasis of Marlavai have once again demonstrated their love and respect for Anthropologist Christopher von Furer- Haimondorf and his wife Elizabeth (Betty) by repairing the dilapidated house at Marlavai village in Jainoor mandal. 

The couple had stayed there during Haimondorf’s research in the Adilabad district. The house is monument for the Adivasis now.  

Marlavai villagers observed latter’s 29^th death anniversary as per the Adivasis traditions and customs on January 11.   

Women of the Marlavai have been busy for the last two- days, repairing the shed built with Bamboo, mud and wooden logs. The walls have been pasted with mud and cow dung to cover cracks.

This shows their respect to the house in which the Haimondorf couple stayed as one among the Adivasis and studied their culture and traditions visiting the interior villages in bullock carts during 1950’s.

Kanaka Venkatesh, honorary president of Haimondorf and Betti Elizabeth Youth Association, said the villagers of Marlavai in particular and Adivasis in general had unique love to Haimondorf couple for their contribution to the empowerment of the Adivasis in India.

He said Haimondorf couple had shown that they too had love towards Adivasis by naming their elder son after Lachupatel, then headman (Patel) of the Marlavai, was any indication to this.

The photographs taken along with the Haimondorf couple were the memorable for many villagers of the Marlavai and will put on display during their death anniversary event.

Essay writing competitions for the students of Ashram schools are being conducted on the life and contributions of the Haimondorf to the empowerment of the Adivasis. Sports and games also conducted for the young on the occasion.    

Encroachers to get 2BKH houses

Khanapur tank in Adilabad town 

Encroachers on the Khanapur tank will get two bedroom houses (2BKH) as an incentive to vacate the existing houses that they have constructed on the tank bed. Efforts are being made to develop Khanapur tank as a mini-tank bund in the Adilabad town.

The Khanapur tank is one of the popular old Talabs dug up during the Nizam period in the Adilabad district. 

Nearly 260 houses on the tank bed will be removed to revive and expand the tank and develop it as mini- tank bund and make it as tourist spot in the Adilabad town.

State government is developing one tank from each Assembly constituency as mini- tank bund under the mission Kakatiya. 

It will also make special arrangements at these mini- tank bunds to play Bathukamma in future.Sources said that divisional revenue officials had prepared the list of the houses by encroaching on the tank bed and were living there. 

The two bedroom houses would be built in survey NO.  68, which is government land behind the Kastala Ramakistu colony in the mavala grampanchayat on the outskirts of the Adilabad town.

People used to swim in the Khanapur tank and many fishermen families were depended on the tank but things have changed a lot after the sewerage water releasing into the tank and people started encroaching the tank and constructing houses in the last 20 years.    

A senior TRS leader of Adilabad town said, only after revenue officials had completed the construction of houses to be allotted they would start evacuating people and razing the structures on the tank bed which were causing them problems.

A majority of the houses on the tank bed were getting inundated during het rainy season, and it had become a common practice for those living in them to demand compensation for such damage.

Irrigation projects boost real estate

A plot venture at Pochera cross road in Boath mandal

The submergence of villages in the proposed Kupti lift irrigation project on Kadem river has created a real-estate boom in the Boath Assembly constituency in the Adilabad district.

New plot ventures are being created converting the agriculture fields into plots with the hope that people of the villages to be submerged in the project will buy the plots.

Political leaders encouraging real estate business announced that soon the project will be taken up and villagers have to vacate their houses leaving the land to be submerged. People of submerged villages will lose their fertile lands under the proposed project.

Realtors have entered into the scene and luring the gullible people of the villages to be submerged if the Kupti project materializes and asking them to buy the plots without much delay as the prices will increase once they were evacuated their villages.

The agriculture lands have been converted into plots in Neredigonda mandal headquarters, Tejapur village and Pochera cross roads, Kauta in Boath mandal and also Ichoda mandal headquarters and these villages are surrounding to the villages to be submerged under the Kupti project.

Land value has gone up in these villages in the recent past with the entry of the realtors. The plots which used to be sold for Rs 50,000 are now selling for Rs 2 lakh and same is the case with the agriculture lands.

The realtors even selling lands without patta and government assigned government lands to the gullible people though 1/70 (Land transfer Act) will not allow the land transfers between tribal and non- tribals and cannot be registered.                   

The land prices have increased abnormally in the last three months after Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao visited the Kupti project site in Neredigonda in the last September.

However, the irrigation engineers had prepared three designs as far as project site is concerned to construct the Kupti lift irrigation project. One of design aimed to reduce the submergence of the fertile lands and villages Kupti, Kumari and tribal villages Gandhari and Gajili in Neredigonda and Mode village in Bajarhathnoor mandal under the project.

Kumari Grampanchayat sarpanch Mandula Ramesh said, “It would be good if the project would be constructed without much submergence of fertile lands and affecting the habitat of the forest animals and villages”.

He said land prices increased many folds in the surrounding villages and towns in the last three months with the news that their villages will be submerged in the project.     

It is estimated that nearly 1,200 acres of land including 400 acres of forest will be submerged under the Kupti project.

Surabhi keeps drama alive in TS

A scene from Maya Bazar played by Surabhi artists

Sri Venkateshwara Natya Mandali, popularly known as ‘Surabhi’, which has a long history of 131 years in the field of drama, is bringing life to drama with regular performances in Telangana.

The Surabhi was on the verge of disappearance for few years. With the encouragement of government and individuals by providing shows for the survival of the Surabhi artist families and their ancient art it is keeping its tradition.     

Surabhi’s is famous for mythological plays- Srikrishna Leelalu, Jai Paathala Bhairavi, Maya Bazar- and also folk plays.

A many as 60 members of a single family are performing mythological and social drams under the banner of Surabhi and Padma Shri Awardee R. Nageswara Rao popularly known as Surabhi Babji is monitoring the team.

The Surabhi team of artists also performed the mythological plays at Basar during the Godavari pushkarlu and enthralled the thousands of devotees.

Nageswara Rao said, “ Gradually the Surabhi is getting revived with the admiration showing towards their mythological plays by the people and art lovers and added that they were using technology, big settings, fireworks and trick scenes in the play on par with the movies to attract the audience”.     

District public relations officer B. Satyanarayana said, government institutions came forward to encourage the Surabhi artists by giving them opportunity to perform the shows and paying them some amount.

He said audience were spell bound those were watching mythological play Maya Bazar performed by the Surabhi artists at Nirmal and the Surabhi artists used technology to make the scenes more effective and attractive. 

For example, eating hundreds of Laddus by Ghatothkachudu and also using firing crackers to create fire like situation by Ghathokachudu and pouring water to put off that fire by Abhimanyu in the war.

Adilabad collector M.Jagan Mohan took the initiative to give life to the Surabhi drama by giving them programmes to perform. Cultural Advisor to the state government K. V. Ramana Chary is also encouraging the Surabhi artists and their families by providing programmes.

Adilabad citizens pray for a rail line to Armoor

Adilabad railway station 

The People of the district have pinned lot of hopes on a provision in the railway Budget for the Adilabad- Armoor railway line, which will connect the west part of the district with Karimnagar and Nizamabad.

Adilabad MP Gadam Nagesh, who is hoping that the allocation will be made for it and for a railway over bridge in Adilabad town, said that he had put forth the proposal.

Nagesh said he proposed the Adilabad – Armoor railway line and allocation of funds for the same in this railway budget and already a railway line was extended to Armoor of Nizamabad, Karimnagar from Peddapalli.

‘There was a proposed 317 km Patancheru to Adilabad via Armoor and Nirmal railway line at a cost of Rs 3,700 crore was pending with the Railway Ministry. An  Armoor- Karimnagar line  has already been laid’ said Nagesh adding that now the line between Armoor to Adilabad covering the distance of 135 km had to be taken up’.

‘the Railway ministry declared the Armoor- Adilabad line as unviable during the 2011-12’ he recalled , but he had approached the ministry once again, appealing  to them to keep in mind that this was a backward, tribal area and  this would be a proposed railway track to the newly formed Telangana state’.

The ministry had taken his appeal into consideration and revived the plan to play new railway line between Armoor to Adilabad via Nirmal.     

Sources said, there was every possibility of getting sanction to the railway over bridge near Tamsi bus stand in the Adilabad to enable the people to the cross over easily and also permit the free flow of traffic.       

Ambali most sought -after drink

 A road side juice centre sell Jonna Ambali at Luxettipet 

The delicious Jonna Ambali (gruel made of grinded jowar) is competing with fruit juice this summer.

Fruit juice vendors are now offering ‘Jonna Ambali’ along with the fruit juice in towns which keep the body cool in the hot summer and gives energy. Jonna Ambali is famous and delicious food item even today in the rural areas of the Telangana.

Rural folk take Jonna Ambali with Chatni and curd before going to agriculture fields and after returning to home.

Telangana agitators offered the Jonna Ambali to the new generation to make the item popular and Jonna Ambali got boost with the exhibitions of Telangana dishes.

The importance and the role of the gruel centres played in saving the lives of the people during the severe drought that hit the united Andhra Pradesh during 1984-85 was reported in the book ‘The State and Repressive Culture: the Andhra  Experience’ written by  social activist and writer Kancha Ilaiah and was published in 1989.

The Civil Society, Human Rights Groups and Left Parties had established these gruel centers in drought affected districts during that time. The Ambali is also a nutritious food and it gives energy to the starving people.

Taking Jonna Ambali has become a fashion too these days due to its nutritional value. People especially diabetics are taking Jawa of Ragi, Jonna, Sajjalu, Ulavalu after grinding on the instruction of doctors.

Dashrath Jangil of Ichoda said, ‘people used to take gruel (Ambali) made of local variety ‘Pedda Jonnalu’ which are sown in June or July and gets crop by January or February ‘and added that this local variety used to keep the body cool during summer and now these local variety disappeared and replaced with hybrid variety.  

Inter and SSC students to face March heat

Intermediate and SSC students, who will appear examinations scheduled to begin on March 2 and 21 respectively, will face the brunt of the summer when temperatures may touch 45 degree Celsius.

It will be an uncomfortable time for them, writing exams in the heat, which has already set in. Parents are worried about this and likelihood of power cuts.

Shahid Ahmed Tavakkal of Adilabad town said that the family was taking all precautionary measures to ensure that his son takes the exam in a clam and stress-free state of mind.

‘Most of the parents are worried about the heat in March , he observed , but expected that drinking water and primary medical treatment facilities would be provided at examination centres as prevention against the diarrhea or sunstroke.

The education department has not received any special instructions regarding making special arrangements at examination centres to stave off the side effects of the heat. 

They have only general instructions regarding provision of furniture for students to write examinations without difficulty.

As many as total 43,291 including 37,439 regular and 5,852 private students will attend SSC examinations at 204 examination centres. Section 144 will be imposed around the examination centres in the district.     

Pochera,Ghanpur road to boost connectivity

Double road being laid between Pochera to Ghanpur 

The road- widening works and laying of a new double road at a cost of Rs 32 crore covering 16 km between Pochera crossroads to Ghanpur on the district borders in Boath Assembly constituency will improve connectivity between the bordering areas of Maharashtra and Adilabad of Telangana.

Heavy vehicles loaded with cement, iron and granite ply on this road to go to Nanded or Hyderabad to avoid checking and various taxes. It was a shortcut route to Nanded via Kinwat. These heavy vehicles caused damage to the road between Boath and Sonala.

Hundreds of devotees living on the border, including Marati and telugu speaking people of Adilabad district visit Mahur in Maharashtra to have darshan of goddess Renuka Devi and God Dattatreya at local temples there.

R. Srinivas of Kumari village said, “ There is already a road existing road via Sonala, Kauta to Kinwat and the new double road from Pochera to Ghanpur will certainly improve transportation between backward Kinwat taluk of Maharashtra and Boath Assembly constituency in Adilabad.

Then newly laid double road at a cost of Rs 10 crore between Boath cross road to Boath constituency head quarters enable the free flow of traffic.

Adilabad MP Gadam Nagesh said, “Getting sanctions for the road laying works of  inter- state road is big achievement for him as it was long pending one and was  sanctioned during my term as MP”.

“The road will improve the road connectivity in the area and the road will be operational in one- and- a- half years”.

He said this is the only road sanctioned to the Telangana under Central Road Fund (CRF) meant to improve the inter-state connectivity by the Central government though many roads were proposed.    

Road widening works are going on between Pochera crossroads to Ghanpur raising hopes among the local people about improving road connectivity. However, there is poor road connectivity to Kinwat and Mahur from the bordering village Ghanpur of Adilabad.

Earlier, two RTC buses from Hyderabad, Narayankhed used to go to Mahur via Nirmal- Boath – Kinwat but these bus services have been cancelled for since four years due to bad roads.

Kuntala waterfall runs dry so early

The dried up Kuntala waterfall 

The Kuntala waterfall has run dry- and with it, the enthusiasm of the tourists who have been thronging there in large numbers only to turn away disappointed.

Most of the devotees who visited Basar temple on the occasion of Vasantha Panchami are also visiting Kuntala waterfall but returned with disappointment.

Sama Shiva of Vijayawada was one of them, who said that it would be have been helpful if the Tourism department had put out an advisory or notice, informing the people accordingly as locals at Basar had misinformed him, other tourists too felt that there was a need for signboards, carrying full details about the waterfall, the best time to visit and warnings against going into the deep or onto slippery spots.

“But it has dried earlier than usual this year due to successive drought conditions” which was generally goes dry by April ending, said Sharada , manager of a hotel near the waterfall . 

She surmised that this was why tourists from districts from the district were staying away while those from other states had been coming expectantly.

The streams and rivulets which flow into Kuntala waterfall have dried perhaps due to high temperatures, say locals, the water usually disappearing by the end of  April.  

Conflict on water to the fore

Thorn fence erected around the stream  in Kumari village 

Drought conditions, steep fall in ground water table and dried up water bodies has created human- animal conflict for drinking water in the district.

Villagers erected thorn fences around the streams to prevent cattle from entering and drinking water in Kumari village in Neredigonda mandal. The same is happening in many villages in the district.

Farmers are erecting a fencing to save their standing crops while people and cattle are struggling for drinking water with the rising temperatures and fast approaching summer. Both animals and people are dependent on these water bodies for drinking water.

Farmer Satish of Kumari village said, “We are facing an acute drinking water problem this summer following the successive droughts and both cattle and people are fighting for drinking water and this is unavoidable situation”.            

On the other hand, water crisis has created differences among the people of neighboring villages Kajjarla and Khodad in Talamadugu mandal on releasing water from the tank to downstream for drinking water purpose.

The tank was located on villager outskirts of Kajjarla and villagers depending on the tank to give water to their standing groundnut crop cultivated in upstream by agriculture motors.

The Kajjarla farmers alleged that villagers of Khodad taking water through ‘Thoomu’ without taking permission from officials concerned. 

Kajjarla villagers refused to release water to downstream from tank while Khodad villagers demand for releasing water for drinking purposes and to save the cattle. People of both the villagers had complained to their respective Tahsildars on the water issue February8.

Connecting through roads

 the 6.5 km gravel road laid to Chilaplli 

District Police is trying to ‘connect’ them to the people of interior villages especially Naxal effected by laying roads through Shramadanam under police meekosam.

Gravel road for 6.5 km distance was laid on the existing damaged metal road to Chilapalli from Sirpur (T) mandal headquarters in five days by involving the people of seven villages in Chilapalli and Malini grampanchayats and also with the supporter of the local tractor and JCB owners.

The ITDA engineers had prepared Rs 20 lakh estimations to lay the same gravel road in the past.

With this road, road connectivity has improved to the interior Limbuguda,Medipalli, Ravanpalli,Pusuguda in Chilapalli grampanchayat and also Chinna Malini and Pedda Malini villages.Nearly 200 villagers of two grampanchayats voluntarily participated in the road laying works.     

Two and four wheelers used to take one hour horrible ride to reach Chilapalli from Sirpur (T) and the time has reduced to 15 minutes now with newly laid gravel road under Shramadanam.

These two gramapachayats comprises total population of 5,000 and among them 90 percent were primitive Kolam and Gond Adivasis. 

Till recent past, people of seven villages of two grampanchayats had faced difficulties in emergency due to poor road connectivity to Chilapalli from the mandal headquarters but things have changed with the improved road connectivity. However, there was Bt road to Malini grapanchayat from Chilapalli.

Sirpur (T) Sub-inspector Pushpala Ramarao said, ‘the villagers brought the issue of poor road connectivity to their Malini grampanchayat during the free medical camp conducted there under police mee kosam recently and he took the initiative to improve the road connectivity to Malini on the instructions of SP Dr. Tarun Joshi and DSP Gummy Chakravarthy.

‘Certainly the newly laid gravel road will enable the villagers easily reaching to the Sirpur (T) town and also 104, 108 medical ambulances can to reach these two interior grampachayats within no time now unlike in the past.’

Sarpanch of Chilapalli Surpam Arju said, ‘the gravel road laid on existing damaged metal road with the initiative by the local police has brought great relief to the people of the seven villages under two grampanchayats especially in emergency’.  

Wooden poles pose threat to farmers

 Wooden poles set up at Madhapur in Neredigonda  

The wooden poles erected in place of cement electric poles are posing life threat to the life of farmers in some villages in Adilabab district.

The villagers have erected these poles as the Transco officials have failed to provide cement poles in these villages to enable supply of power to their fields. 

Wooden poles to facilitate power supply can be seen in many villages of Boath Assembly constituency. Madhapur in Wagdhari gram panchayat is one among the villages.

One of the village elders , Pendore Dharmanna, said, ‘ The Transco officials of Neredigonda have failed to supply two cement electric poles to our village to provide power supply to the Agriculture motors even after repeated appeals for the last four years. 

‘The wires hang precariously over our heads and we can’t avoid incidents of electrocution when the wires get lose’, he said. Then we alert everyone in the village be  careful while going to their fields as coming in contact with the wires can prove fatal, he added.

During the last four years, there were many incidents of electrocution taking place in the villages when farmers switched on the motors in the night time to provide water to their crops or on coming in contact with the live wires having over their heads or when the wooden pole fell on the ground. 

The wooden poles easily lose their base, unlike the cement poles. The incidents of death due to electrocution, both of human and cattle, were reported from these interior villages in the past.    

The farmers of these villages are appealing to the Transco officials to address their problem as summer is fast approaching and there are chances of the wires getting lose more often.  

Educated youth set up dairy farms

The youth here are keen to set up dairy farms following huge demand for the milk and milk based items in the towns. People want to buy milk directly from dairy forms instead of packaged milk following the reports that it is not safe.     

Educated, hard- working youth are forming as a group and going into dairying for it is now profit marking business, with there being good demand for milk and milk products, like curd, pannier despite the presence of many milk companies in the business of supplying packaged milk.

The dairy farm owners purchasing ‘Kalli pindi’ at Rs 2,100 per quintal in the local market to feed the animals daily in addition to the green grass and maize and jowar being raised in their agriculture field or purchased from farmers.

Along with his two friends, Kallem Naresh Reddy of Adilabad town recently set up dairy farm with eight milch animals of Haryana breed and producing an average 75 liters of milk every- day and selling them at Rs 50 per liter in the open market.

They had set up diary farm with Rs 15 lakh near Ankoli village in Adilabad.

"There is good demand for milk following the huge shortage of milk production in the Adilabad district, said Naresh Reddy and added that there are 20 dairy farms in and around Adilabad town and four among them started recently by the youth". 

Dairy farm owners are getting green grass seeds on subsidy and services of government veterinary doctor. People are ready to buy quality milk at Rs 55 per liter and collect the milk from dairy farm itself.

Tigers raring to go

The ‘Adilabad Tigers’ will roar at Telangana Premier League (TPL)-2016 that will begin from February 23 at Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad. 

The friends and parents and sports lovers of the Adilabad are excited to see the play of their children and friends live on Doordarshan as for the first time the latter’s play is being telecast live.

A 14- member cricket team of Adilabad Tigers (name of the team) will participate in the League. 

The players selected from interior areas of the district are flying in the air as they were going to play the cricket matches for the first time in LB stadium and will be shown live on DD.

Total 12 teams including Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Cyberabad in addition to each from districts in the state will play in Telangana Cricket Premier League (TPL). This is first of its kind with district teams participating in TPL  which was established by taking inspiration from the IPL.

The other teams including Hyderabad Kings, Jubilee Jaguar, Khammam Commanders,Medak Lions, Nizamabad Nizams and Karimnagar  Legends. The TPL will begin on February 23 and will continue till March 1.

According to sources, total 15 matches will be conducted in day and night format in TPL at LB stadium. Total 237 cricket players registered their names with Adilabad Tigers Franchise and among them 100 players had attended the selections conducted at Mancherial and among them 14 players selected for final team.

Adilabad Tigers Franchise owner B. Venkatesh said, ‘the TPL is being introduced to tap the rural talent and give them platform to show their talent to the world and to grow as professional cricket players and also to represent Ranji and National teams in future’. He hoped that Adilabad Tigers will perform its best at TPL.

Bungee jumping at Soan bridge

 old Soan bridge to be developed as adventure sports centre 

The historical old Soan bridge which is not being used now will soon offer a gala time for many adventure sports lovers with bungee jumping and trekking events.

The bridge was constructed on river Godavari connecting the Adilabad and Nizamabad districts in 1936. The bridge is 915 meters long, 60 feet height and 6 meters width and there are 30 pillars and was constructed near Pochampad by the Nizam government.   

Efforts are being made to develop the Soan bridge which is not in use now after construing new bridge for laying National High way -44 beside the old one.

It is said that water will be stored near Soan bridge on river Godavari by placing a rubber- like check dam and will be used for water sports and also for bungee jumping. 

The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation is making efforts to develop the Soan bridge area as centres for adventure sports.

Experts will visit the Soan bridge soon and prepare the project design to develop the place as adventurous sports centre.  

During his recent visit to the Adilabad, Tourism secretary Burra Venkatesham had discussed with district collector M. Jagan Mohan on tourism projects they are going to take up in the Adilabad district.

‘He will soon visit ‘Jalavihar’ (tourism project with water based sports events, water fountains, sound and lighting programmes) developed in Haryana which has been attracting many visitors and sports lovers and will develop a tourism protect on the line of Jalavihar’, said Tourism secretary Burra Venkatesham.

It is said ‘Jalavihar’ project will be first developed in the Adilabad district which has many rivers and water projects like Kadam. The historical caves in the deep forests at Parandholi in Narnoor on the district border will also be developed as tourist place. 

Adivasis use traditional tools

 Adivasi woman purchasing traditional weighing tools 

Adivasis still use traditional tools made of iron and bamboo to weigh the food grains in their day-today life in their villages. The Adivasis strongly believe that these weighing tools are more or less accurate to that of modern electronic weighing machines.

The traditional weight measuring tools such as ‘Sorai’, ‘Chitte’, ‘Paili’ are made of iron while ‘Dala’, ‘Topla’, ‘Topli’, ‘Saanka’ and ‘Daavudi’ are made of bamboo.  

These tools and measurements are still popular among the Adivasis though they sell their grains they cultivated at local shops or market yards as per the electronic weighing machines and sometimes old weighing tools such as ‘Taraju’ and ‘Batlu’.

Vijay Singh of Ichoda, who manufactures iron weighing tools, said Adivasi are still use these traditional tools made of iron to weigh their food grains jowar, maize, rice and pulses and they have strong attachment to these traditional tools. He said Adivasis purchase them at weekly shandies or Jataras.

Kanaka Venkateshwar Rao of Marlavai in Jainoor mandal said, ‘ Even today they use traditional weighing measurement tools to cook the food for the guests based on their number and to offer the food grains to the Gods and in preparing Naivedyam and also in extracting Oil from seeds of caster (Amudam) and Sesame by using their traditional ‘Ganuga’.

“Adivasis use weighing tools made of bamboo before the entry of the iron measuring tools and even today the primitive Kolam Adivasis continue to use bamboo measuring tools”, he observed.

Adivasi woman Thodasam Laxmibai of Patan of Maharashtra said, still they still use traditional weighing tools in their day- today life and are proud that traditional knowledge has passed on to new generations by their ancestors.

Non- tribal who penetrated into tribal areas long back used to take the valuable food grains and minor forest produce from the Adivasis just by offering them cheap quality and less priced cloths, decoration items and cosmetics as part of barter system. Now, Adivasis have stopped doing so and prefer selling them at local market.       

Cattle too have parched throats

 A farmer helps his cattle have water at roadside borewell   

The drinking water crisis is so acute that not just humans, even animals are facing its brunt. The increasing temperatures coupled with steep fall in the ground water table, has deepened the crisis.

Some villagers are taking their cattle to neighboring villages, where water bodies have not dried up yet, to let their animals drink water. 

There are reports of incidents where villagers have not allowed the cattle of other villages into their village to drink water.In such a situation, farmers are searching for the borewells beside the road side where they can quench the thirst of their cattle.

Farmers are also keeping a vigil on the fodder they are stocking up in their agriculture fields and out sides their house as there is shortage for it. One can see the farmers or their children taking their cattle to the drinking water sources, all along the Adilabad to Utnoor route.

The drinking water crisis is much more severe in tribal areas when compared to other places in the district. People are already experiencing high temperatures and it has already been predicted that the temperatures will be high time summer compared to last year.

Sales down by 50% at Nagoba

The low price for the cotton, soya and redgram in the last Kharif has resulted in less purchases of food, decoration, steel and iron items by the Adivasis at the Nagoba Jatara in the district.

It is a general practice that Adivasis purchase items required for their daily use and also for the marriages of their children who are prospective brides and grooms at the one of the biggest Adivasi Jataras in the country, the Nagoba at Keslapur in Indravelli mandal.

Some of them especially visit the Jatara to purchase items for their future purposes. But things have changed a lot this time. It was seen majority of Adivasi devotees who visited temple are returning to their homes with empty hands.

Deepak Singh Shekawath of Indravelli who runs a hotel in the Nagoba Jatara said, there are no sales of Jalebi and Bhajia this time for which Adivasis likes very much as they had no cash in hand to purchase as they got poor prices to their crops cotton, Soya and redgram and they left with nothing after repaying the money whatever they got through selling their crops to the money lenders popularly known as ‘Shahukars’ or middlemen.

He said the Adivasis those who are purchasing also cutting half of the quantity they used to purchase Jalebi and Bhajia and this is an indication of lowered purchasing capacity due to lower prices to their crops.        

Already, there was considerable fall in the yield due to crop damages caused by the drought and the low prices for crops further disappointed the farmers in general and Adivasi farmers in particular.

T. Kishore of Nizamabad who runs puffed rice or murmur and traditional sweet items at Nagoba temple, regretted that there was no sale for their items as few people are purchasing them.

He said, ‘Pani Hitho….Fasal Atha ; Fasal Ayetho..  Paise Athe.. Jab Panihi  Nahihai.. Log Kahase Kareethe’(People get money only when there are good crops but there would be good crops only when there is good rains. When there are no rains how people will purchase something they want with less money).

Pendore Devrao of Sirikonda observed that ‘most of the Adivasis had purchased nothing except few playing items for their children’.