ITDA Chintoor recommends ₹4 lakh ex gratia for five tribals drowned in Godavari

ITDA Project Officer at Chintoor, Subham Nokwal, consoling family members of one of the five Koya tribe drowned in river Godavari near Gommu Koya Gudem village in Polavaram district. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) project officer in Chintoor, Subham Nokwal, on Sunday demanded an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to families of each of the five Koya tribals who drowned in river Godavari.The deceased, identified as Vooke Susheela, 37, Vooke Lakshmi, 37, Turram Bharathi, 40, B. Balaraju, 38, and Vooke Ramesh, 38, belonging to Gommu Koya Gudem village, drowned on Saturday when they were fishing in the river.The incident occurred while a group of 12 people went to the river’s downstream Bhadrachalam to catch ‘Cheera Menu’ variety of fish. The Koya tribals catch the Cheera Menu fish in the Godavari river during the inflow of flood water. The tribe does fishing with the help of sarees.The last rites of the deceased have been performed on Sunday morning. The ITDA authorities have offered aid of ₹25,000 to each of the five families for performing the last rites on Saturday night.Speaking to The Hindu over phone on Sunday, Mr. Nokwal said, “We demand the State government to offer an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh to each of the families of the deceased. Besides, a government job has been proposed to offer to an 18-year-old boy from a deceased family and a girl from another deceased family will be attached to an NGO for her academics.”New policyMr. Nokwal has stated that the Koyas prefer to go fishing during the inflow of floodwater into the Godavari river.“We have asked the Panchayats to conduct gram sabhas to come up with a policy of their choice to prevent fishing during the flood and monsoon and such an initiative will be implemented to prevent any untoward incidents in the Chintoor agency,” Mr. Nokwal said. Published - July 19, 2026 08:18 pm IST