THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To address a slew of issues faced by the tribal community in Thiruvananthapuram, the district administration has started interventions.
District Collector Anu Kumari visited the Podiyakkala tribal hamlet in Vithura grama panchayat on Sunday. The collector interacted with the residents to evaluate their living conditions and address their concerns.
“The major issue they raised was the man-animal conflicts,” Anu Kumari told TNIE. People are at risk of attacks by elephants, bisons and wild boars. Though trenches have been dug to prevent such incidents, their irregular maintenance remains a shortcoming.
“I have instructed the officials to take up effective maintenance. We will have support from the NABARD team also, as digging trenches in hard and rocky areas cannot be carried out by forest officials alone,” she said. Anu Kumari also visited the homes of two victims of animal attacks.
“We faced two wild animal attacks in the past two years,” said Peppara ward member Latha Kumari, adding that wild animals destroy their crops, mainly bananas and tapioca.
“The authorities have ensured the distribution of drinking water to 75 families in the hamlet,” Latha said. She stated that the issue of dilapidated roads in the area was also raised in the meeting with the collector, which is expected to be resolved immediately.
Another major issue raised was the increased student dropouts post Plus II, for which the collector directed to identify job-oriented training courses that can be provided to the students.
“I was very happy to see that the basic amenities at Podiyakkala, including ration distribution, healthcare administration, etc were functioning properly,” the collector said. She also interacted with the tribal chieftain during the visit.
The panchayat member added that monthly health check-ups, travel facilities for tribal students under the ‘Vidyavahini’ scheme, etc have also been effectively functioning.
The collector visited the hamlets with officials from tribal, education, forest, health, water and local self-government departments.