COIMBATORE: Chinnampathi, a tribal hamlet housing around 72 Irular families, located at the edge of the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in the Coimbatore district, has been struggling to obtain even basic amenities despite having several government and private initiatives on paper.
Located deep inside a dense forest, the village is about 7km from the Coimbatore-Kochi National Highway near Walayar. Forest department permission is mandatory to enter as wildlife movement is frequent. Daily wage work at farmlands is the tribals' main livelihood.
While a government boarding school up to Class 5 exists in the village, children have to go to Navakkarai for higher studies.
Notably, the village has a new housing project, a ration shop, government vehicle arrangements for transport and a biogas plant. However, TNIE's visit to the village revealed that none of these facilities are functional and they remain only as showpieces.
"Transport is our biggest problem. Only the Route No 96 bus comes here in the morning and evening. Like other areas, we had asked for a van. A few months before the Assembly elections, the local body gave us a non-functional vehicle and told us to repair and run it ourselves. We spent money several times, but it keeps breaking down and has now become completely useless. We do not have transport even during daytime. With elephants moving around the region, we are living in constant fear. Even for medical emergencies, we are forced to carry people on two-wheelers," said M Karthik, a youth from the village.
The residents lament that housing still remains a major unfulfilled promise. "There are 72 families but only 48 houses. For the rest, 32 houses were built under the PM-JANMAN 2024-25 scheme about 1km away. But construction has been pending for several months and the houses have not been handed over to beneficiaries. If we get them, at least we will have a safer living environment," said another resident Rajan (name changed).
The ration shop, built with private contribution, has been locked for more than a year. A biogas plant set up by another private firm is also defunct and has never been operational. Villagers said that despite all these facilities being sanctioned for tribal welfare, nothing is functional. Their primary demand now is safe transport, especially for emergencies.