Hemalkasa Gallery:

A woman gets her baby examined by Dr. Prakash.

'Development' is making the life of tribal communities more difficult. Two major hydel power projects were coming up in the area around Hemalkasa the Inchampalli dam on the Godavari River and the Bhopalpatnam dam on the Indravati River. These projects would submerge about two hundred thousand acres of land, half of which was prime forest. In 1984, with Baba Amte's leadership, thousands of tribals marched to the District Collector's office demanding that the projects be withdrawn. Eventually a combination of this local action and lobbying in the corridors of power led to the cancellation of these projects. Despite all the challenges, this made it exceedingly clear that the next generation of tribal children must know their rights as citizens of a democratic country ú and education would be key.

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