The island villages of Nagayalanka often appear idyllic, a verdant paradise embraced by water. Colorful country boats glide across the river, while the scent of fresh seafood drying in the sun mingles with the daily rhythm of fishermen at work. Yet, beneath this picturesque surface lies a stark reality: few outsiders are drawn to visit or settle in these remote communities nestled by the Krishna River.
Deep within the Diviseema region, near Etimoga, lies Edurumondi – a quiet island panchayat bordered by the Krishna River. It acts as the sole access point to a cluster of seven isolated villages: Edurumondi, Jinkapalem, Krishnapuram, Yesupalem, Gollamanda, Brahmaiahgarimula, and Nachagunta, all situated near where the Krishna River meets the Bay of Bengal. Another island, Elachetladibba, can only be reached by a country boat from Nachagunta.
The lifeline connecting these islands to the mainland is a single punt, a large mechanized barge capable of carrying 25 tonnes. This solitary vessel makes 22 trips daily, serving approximately 11,000 residents, including laborers, families, students, and government workers. Despite its crucial role, the punt highlights the profound lack of essential infrastructure, amenities, and clean drinking water that plagues these communities.
Residents from Edurumondi village in Krishna district travel to the mainland village of Etimoga on the sole punt, which undertakes at least 22 trips daily.
A Bridge to Nowhere: Decades of Unkept Promises
For over three decades, the plea for a bridge connecting these islands has gone unanswered. C. Sivayya, a 55-year-old fisherman who tragically lost his uncle in a boat accident in the 1990s, recounts how former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao promised a bridge during his 1990 visit to Edurumondi. Thirty-five years later, that promise remains unfulfilled.
Successive Chief Ministers, including Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, and Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, have echoed the same pledge during their visits. Despite public representatives witnessing firsthand the severe hardships villagers endure, particularly during floods, the bridge proposal consistently remains a mere document.
The arduous journey to these poorly connected villages takes a toll on essential service providers. Staff at Edurumondi’s lone Primary Health Centre (PHC) and the government school in Elachetladibba describe their jobs as exceptionally challenging, with few individuals willing to undertake the difficult commute.
“Who would willingly come to such a distant place lacking proper roads for employment?” a medical staffer questioned anonymously. They explained that missing a punt means waiting over an hour for the next trip. During floods, boat services are suspended for safety, forcing them to remain at the hospital for days, completely cut off from the outside world.
The Edurumondi PHC is the sole medical facility providing a doctor for all seven island communities. While Nachagunta has a Village Health Clinic, its Community Health Officers are limited to prescribing medicine. Without an ambulance, villagers rely entirely on the punt’s fixed schedule for PHC visits, or a country boat for emergencies, posing significant risks during critical situations.
PHC Medical Officer K. Rajeswara Rao noted that, thankfully, no deaths have been directly attributed to boat delays. However, transporting patients, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to the government hospital in Avanigadda on time remains a major challenge. “It takes over 30 minutes just to get started,” Dr. Rao explained. “First, we must ask the boat owner for assistance, cross the river, and only then can we get into an ambulance.”
Tragically, local accounts recall over 30 lives lost in river-crossing boat accidents during the 1990s. More recently, in 2003, media reports confirmed that 20 individuals perished when a country boat capsized, though 19 others managed to swim to safety.
These tragedies instilled deep fear among the locals. In 2003, a punt was constructed through collective efforts by the Zilla Parishad, villagers, and the Fisheries Department under the then TDP government’s Janmabhoomi scheme. It operated until 2017 when gales damaged it, leading to its eventual closure. According to M. Venkat, owner of the current lone punt, villagers’ subsequent requests for a replacement were denied by the government. It was then that his father, the then Sarpanch of Edurumondi, stepped in and financed a new punt at a cost of ₹70 lakh.
Mr. Venkat emphasized the critical need for a bridge, highlighting the inherent dangers of operating a boat. “It demands constant vigilance and frequent repairs,” he stated. “During floods, or whenever outflows from the Prakasam Barrage exceed three lakh cusecs, we are compelled to suspend services, leaving the islands isolated.”
This year alone, the Vijayawada barrage recorded inflows exceeding three lakh cusecs six times. The A.P. State Disaster Management Authority reported five instances of a first warning (inflows above 3.97 lakh cusecs) and one second warning.
“On a normal day, the punt requires about 40 liters of diesel, but during high inflows, this jumps to 100 liters,” Mr. Venkat explained. “If the engines fail, the boat could easily be swept out to sea by the strong currents.”
However, the people continue to cross the river on the punt or country boat during emergencies despite the risks and the absence of proper road links. A shopkeeper at the Edurumondi docking point remarked, “It’s simply part of our lives now. Most of us can swim, so floods don’t really frighten us anymore.”
Recent floods partially eroded the road to Jinkapalem, near Edurumondi in Nagayalanka mandal.
Washed-Out Roads: A Permanent Obstacle
Frequent flooding of the Krishna River has severely degraded the temporary roads throughout these villages. Locals report that the river’s width is expanding, and a concerning new development sees tidal waves encroaching upon agricultural fields. The vital road to Jinkapalem has also been partially severed by the river’s relentless force.
Whenever it rains, the absence of permanent roads makes motorcycle and auto-rickshaw travel nearly impossible. A. Tulasi, a laborer from Etimoga, explains, “In such cases, we simply walk.” She treks 14 kilometers round trip to her paddy fields in Jinkapalem when the weather turns. Despite requiring PHC visits every ten days for body pains, she harbors no complaints about the poor roads, merely stating with resignation, “It has always been like this.”
Village leader Chennu Venkateswara Rao observed that the residents have become so accustomed to living without essential amenities that they no longer perceive their absence as a problem.
The three-kilometer mud track between Edurumondi and Nachagunta has been unpaved for 25 years. Krishna District Collector D.K. Balaji explained that the road proposal is stalled with the Department of Forests because the area is a reserve forest. “We are currently identifying land for compensatory afforestation, but obtaining clearance from the Forests Department is a protracted process,” he noted.
Concerning the long-promised bridge from Etimoga to Edurumondi, the Collector confirmed that proposals seeking Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance have been submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
Country boats anchored at Elachetladibba, an island reachable only by country boat from Nachagunta.
The Desperate Search for Safe Drinking Water
According to village leaders in Edurumondi, the groundwater has become saline and undrinkable, a direct consequence of the area’s proximity to the sea and the proliferation of intensive shrimp farming.
An anonymous Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) revealed that residents of her village, Jinkapalem, rely on rainwater for half the year. “They collect rainwater in 50-liter drums, lining the bottom with cloth to prevent evaporation, and use it through the summer months,” she stated, adding that health workers are educating the community on the importance of boiling rainwater before consumption.
The quest for clean, non-saline drinking water has been a perpetual challenge. Village elders remember the 1990s as a period of renewed hope when communist leader M. Nagabhushanam introduced a solution. The Adavipalem Lift Irrigation scheme brought water from a canal in Repalle, Bapatla district, directly to these villages via underwater pipelines.
A 100-acre reservoir constructed in Edurumondi once provided fresh water to all seven villages through a network of tanks and pipelines. However, Venkateswara Rao explained, “For over a decade, the filter beds at the reservoir have malfunctioned, severely disrupting the water supply. This forces residents to depend on borewells or, at times, rainwater.”
An official admitted to the problem but downplayed its severity, stating that reservoir water is now primarily used for irrigation. He claimed that a borewell meets drinking water needs, with the Rural Water Supply Department providing salinity-tested borewell water to all seven villages for 90 minutes daily. However, he acknowledged that early morning work schedules prevent many from accessing it, and generally, residents prefer not to drink borewell water, relying on pumps instead.
Villagers assert that their health has deteriorated from consuming the borewell water supplied by the department. Sivayya, an auto-rickshaw driver, reported experiencing bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, and joint pain. The ASHA worker confirmed widespread complaints of knee pain, noting that even her own family resorted to collecting rainwater after floods damaged the road to Yesupalem, where a handpump is situated.
Health workers also observed that the water’s high salinity leads to widespread skin infections among island residents who use it for bathing.
A downturn in shrimp profits and repeated damage to paddy crops from incessant rains have forced many villagers to migrate to larger cities for work, leaving behind predominantly elderly populations. Fisherman Sivayya concluded with a poignant question and a defiant spirit: “Who will listen to us? Regardless, we must continue fighting for our rights, even if we stand alone.”