The iconic mud-walled house of the Koyas is on the verge of becoming a painful memory for its inhabitants once they are relocated by the State government to make way for the Polavaram irrigation project.
Kella Vijaya had recently realised her dream of building her own mud-walled house — a legacy that has come to define the tribe for generations — after toiling for a year.
“We have spent ₹10,000, our savings of one year earned from toddy tapping, to build our house. Now, it is inevitable that it will be deserted to be later dismantled by the government,” rues Ms. Vijaya.
Thousands of Koyas will have to be rehabilitated from their ancestral habitations in which they had built their houses, as it falls under the submergence area of the Polavaram irrigation project.
In Chintoor Agency, the Koya habitation of Ulumuru has nearly 150 mud-walled houses including one owned by Ms. Vijaya’s family.
Emotional connect
Another Koya woman, Gorre Achamma, told this reporter, “We built our mud-walled house a decade ago. It still stands strong, without any need for repairs. No repairs are needed as long as the walls are painted with cow dung. The longevity of the house also depends on the quality of wood being used to make the roof and pillars.”
“No architectural style or material can match the beauty of the mud-walled house. For generations, the mud-walled house has been nothing short of a luxury. In the new settlements, the government builds the houses according to its choice. We know that some day in the near future, it is going to become a thing of the past for us,” Ms. Achamma says.
Ms. Achamma’s house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a hall, and an attic in which the family stores grains and minor forest produce.
“Women share a deep emotional connection with their house as they spend a long time collecting the mud, building the walls and painting the house with cow dung often,” says Ms. Achamma’s daughter Meena. The roof of the house is usually erected by men.
The low cost is the main factor behind the Koya tribals’ decision to stick to the mud houses instead of going for concrete ones. “The mud-walled house represents many aspects of our life. We know that leaving all this behind is inevitable but it will be very painful nonetheless,” said Ms. Meena.
In the forest, the tribe enjoys the freedom of collecting precious wood, bamboo, and other materials. Once rehabilitated from the forest, they would lose such luxuries.
“What is even more heartbreaking for us is that there won’t be any trace of our habitations for us to come and visit occasionally, as they will all be submerged,” Ms. Meena told The Hindu.
