Carrying a big bag on his shoulders and armed with a battery-operated torch, K. Sadasivam, 63, boards a State-run bus on the less travelled route between Sullurpeta and Rayadoruvu in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The bus winds its way through a desolate 40-minute stretch to reach the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary even as the towering 3-metre-high compound wall of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR) appears on one side. Barbed wire fencing stands sentinel to prevent unauthorised entry into the area, casting an eerie atmosphere along the 14-km stretch. This closely guarded road, primarily used by SHAR’s surveillance vehicles, rarely sees another soul.
Upon reaching Rayadoruvu, also known as Pudirayadoruvu, Sadasivam gets off the bus and presents his identity card, an indispensable document for the residents of villages abutting India’s famous rocket launch station. The security personnel scrutinise it and grant him passage through a rickety gate. His journey continues as he boards a boat to traverse a 200-metre-wide creek, the only route leading to home.
This is not an isolated experience but a recurring ordeal for nearly 20,000 residents of seven villages in Vakadu mandal surrounded by the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary, ISRO’s space centre, the Buckingham canal, and the Bay of Bengal and its backwaters on all four sides, every time they step in or out.
