The tribal residents of Kodama-Bari village in Saluru mandal of Vizianagaram district have much reasons to cheer.
The residents have laid a road on a stretch of 4 km to their village by themselves, solving the perennial problem which they say had been ignored by the authorities. And what came as a surprise is that their efforts caught the attention of actor Sonu Sood who heaped praises on the initiative on his Twitter handle, with the promise that he would visit the village soon.
“As many as 200 families living in Kodama are dependant on Bari in the neighbouring Odisha for all their needs. With no road to the village, the residents had been enduring untold hardships. Pregnant women were being shifted the hospital on dolis. Vexed with the wait for the authorities to lay a road, the residents decided to took it on themselves,” said People Awareness Forum president Kalisetti Appala Naidu.
The villagers gathered around ₹20 lakh from their own contributions and loans for laying of the road. “The residents collected ₹2,000 from each family. They hired earth movers from Odisha to lay the 4-km road,” said Mr. Appala Naidu.
The success story of self-reliance caught the attention of Mr. Sood from a Twitter post.
‘Inspring the nation’
Attaching a two-year-old picture of a pregnant women from the village being carried on a doli, the actor posted on Twitter, “This mode of transport: Not any more. Well done Heroes. We need more individuals like these to take responsibilities on their shoulders and inspire others. Let’s make this happen.”
The actor further promised that he would pay a visit to the village soon. “I will soon come and visit you guys. you will inspire the nation,” Mr. Sood posted on the social media platform.
Mr. Appala Naidu said Mr. Sood is already a real hero for the State.
“Mr. Sood gifted a tractor to a poor farmers’ family in Chittoor district recently. His visit to the tribal village will certainly motivate the people,” added Mr. Appala Naidu.
