MAYILADUTHURAI: For Priya (name changed), a Class 9 student and resident of Anna Nagar, school may begin at 9 am. However, her day starts before dawn at a field lined with Karuvelam trees near Anna Nagar, where women relieve themselves, braving the risk of snakes and venomous reptiles.
Fighting in vain for years seeking basic facilities such as toilets, streetlights, roads, and reliable drinking water supply, 50 Dalit families living in huts in the locality have decided to boycott the Assembly election.
Coming under Mudhalaimedu Panchayat in Kollidam block, residents of Anna Nagar, mostly farm labourers, have been complaining of a non-functional public toilet without water supply in their area and poor roads.
“Even if I wake up at night, I have to go to the forest to relieve myself. Someone accompanies me, but without streetlights, I often trip and fall down,” Priya said. The narrow, damaged road stretching over a kilometre along the Kollidam river bank and laid over a decade ago, connects the village with neighbouring areas.
Water supply remains erratic, though the locality has a mini tank and about four taps installed under the Kollidam Combined Water Supply Scheme. “Water comes once or twice a week, that too for a short while. We walk nearly a kilometre on this damaged road to fetch water from nearby villages,” said Manjula A. Being close to the Kollidam, the settlement is prone to flooding during the monsoon.
A paver block road project initiated two years ago remains incomplete. Though officials from the Kollidam Block Development Office said the sanctioned work covers 174 metres across two areas in Mudhalaimedu, including Anna Nagar, villagers claimed that only 30% of the stretch has been covered.
Officials said a proposal to extend the road by around 90 metres has been sent to the District Rural Development Agency, and work will resume after election. They also said the toilet issue will be addressed. “We have fought for every basic facility, but nothing gets implemented properly. We have decided to boycott the elections until our needs are met,” villagers said.
Collector HS Srikanth told TNIE that the issues would be addressed promptly.