The Koya tribals are making the most of the last phase of their traditional fishing excursions, braving the flood waters of the mighty Godavari, the sacred Sabari and their revered tributaries, Chandravanka and Sokileru, with their Pander Valla, a traditional fishing net handed down through generations in the Godavari Valley of Andhra Pradesh.
Designed in a rectangular shape with bamboo poles, the Pander Valla is a hand-held net used exclusively for fishing in deep waters during floods. It continues to be widely used in Koya villages in the region bordering Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram district, Telangana’s Khammam district and Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. The Sabari enters Andhra Pradesh at Chintoor in the Polavaram district.
Koya fishermen cast the Pander Valla, a hand-held net passed down generations, in the flood waters of Sabari on the Andhra-Chhattisgarh border. Their villages fall in Polavaram project's submergence zone, and they fear this is the last phase of a way of life.
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During floods, the swollen rivers carry fish downstream, prompting Koya men to spend hours along the riverbanks and streams, casting the Pander Valla to trap large fish. The net can be handled by a single person, making it particularly suited to fishing in the deep, fast-flowing waters.
“Designed using our traditional knowledge, the Pander Valla traps large fish despite the high velocity of the flood waters in the rivers and streams. We cast the net only in deep waters,” said Pandrum Seetayya while fishing in the Sabari at Chatti on the Andhra-Chhattisgarh border.
A Koya tribal man casts the traditional fishing net, Pander Valla, near the confluence of the Chandravanka stream and the Sabari river at Chintoor in the Polavaram district. | Photo Credit: T. Appala Naidu
“The Pander Valla has proved to be an ideal traditional fishing tool for generations. It is used at places in the Godavari Valley where fish swimming downstream from the Godavari, Sabari and Sileru can be trapped in our nets,” Mr. Seetayya said.
The traditional fishing practice is not associated with any festival, including Bhumi Panduga, during which Koya men traditionally go hunting in the forest. Bhumi Panduga marks the commencement of the agricultural season.
Sodi Murali, a Koya and former secretary of the Adivasi Sankshema Parishad at Chintoor, told The Hindu that the Pander Valla was a unique traditional tool that symbolised the close relationship between Koya tribal life and the rivers of the Godavari Valley.
“It will soon become a thing of the past as Koya villages are set to be submerged under the Polavaram irrigation project,” said Mr. Murali, who holds a master’s degree in anthropology.
“The Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) plan for the Polavaram irrigation project has been designed in such a way that those displaced by the project will be rehabilitated in places where there are no rivers,” he said.
The Koyas have intensified fishing with the Pander Valla in the Polavaram district, making the most of what they fear could be the final phase of a traditional way of life, even as the government undertakes fresh land surveys to identify more villages falling within the submergence area of the Polavaram irrigation project.
Published - August 11, 2026 08:14 pm IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
