Sunk memories resurface when those expelled return to the old Thoyaaguda

Adilabad: After 40 years of displacement, almost 400 families from Old Thoyaaguda, submerged by the Sathnala irrigation project, gathered on the river on February 10 and shared their memories.

The moving meeting, the third annual “Atmeeya Sammelanam”, Drew Drew Otetees now disperses in 28 villages in the Adilabad district and even parts of Maharashtra. Old Thoyaguda: Once located in Bela Mandal, he is now part of the newly formed mandal sathnala.

The organizers spent two years tracking the outtee families now scattered in 28 villages in the Adilabad district and even in neighboring Maharashtra, where some moved using compensation money received by their submerged lands.

The elderly who were children at the time of evacuation reviewed the remains of their past, including old school and the Hanuman temple that sometimes resurface when water levels go back. Many became melancholic, remembering life before their village in Bela Mandal, now Satehnala Mandal, disappeared under the reservoir after their foundation was placed in 1978 by the then main minister Jalagam Avegalarao.

Gaddala Shankar, who evacuated the old Thoyaguda at age 18 and is now 59 years old, recalled the emotional meeting: “Knowing my friends and classmates after so many years has brought great relief.” He pointed out that many exhibitions did not receive fair compensation after their village was submerged after the foundation of the project established on December 17, 1978 by the late main minister.

The families remembered around the village of 1,000 homes and their 10 villages perched on mountainous terrain. Older women such as Kurma Mallakka who settled in Lationagiri, Chakali Pochakka de Mangoorla, Adapa Chennakak of the village Laxmipur de Jainad Mandal and Kyatham Lamakka by Badi Villa de Padharkawada de Maharashtra described the meeting as a long -awaited comfort. Mallakka said that “he never thought about meeting with old friends,” he added that he connect with his companions villagers relieved his persistent pain.