In 2009, Papikondalu tribal families were displaced for the Polavaram dam project and resettled with 188 acres of compensation land. In 2026, the dam is not done, the compensation remains disputed, and the families have simply added visiting government offices to their list of inherited occupations.
When the Polavaram Irrigation Project arrived in Papikondalu, tribal families were displaced and resettled at Koruturu village in Eluru district and handed 188 acres as compensation. They signed the papers, packed up, and moved. What they did not know was that they were signing up for a 17-year administrative marathon: the dam remains incomplete, the compensation land is disputed and reportedly unusable, and the resettlement conditions have not been resolved. Families like Satyavathi's are now physically walking to the collector's office to beg for intervention, and have simultaneously written to CM Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, and minister Nara Lokesh, in the hope that someone in the chain of command might be aware they exist. The Polavaram project began in the 1990s, acquired land in 2009, and still does not have a completion date. The collector's office, at least, has consistent hours.