KRISHNAGIRI: The ripples caused by the pandemic storm were intense. Some isolated themselves, resigning to their fate. A few clutched on to whatever they could find and others paddled their way with a resolve to help the hapless see out the storm. In Mallapadi panchayat, an antidote came in the form of a WhatsApp group – Mallapadi Makkal Arakattalai. Created by 20-30 villagers, it has now grown to a community with over 230 members.
E Ilaya Bharathi (42), a cable operator and secretary of the group, said people from various castes and religions dwell in the panchayat, consisting of 19 villages and 7,500 people from different sections of the society. “Mallapadi village has about 2,000 residents. During the Covid-19 period, we distributed dry rations worth about Rs 5.50 lakh and desilted a four km-long inlet channel to Mallapadi lake from Bargur at a cost of around Rs 2.50 lakh,” he said. The WhatsApp group, formed in January 2020, went on to carry out several such activities in the panchayat at an estimated cost of around Rs 30 lakh.
Credit should go to the Mallapadi residents, who joined the group, for much of the panchayat’s development. They played an important role in the renovation of a health sub-centre by pooling in around Rs 92,000. In order to prevent anti-social activities in the panchayat, a compound wall was constructed in a location, where consumption of liquor was a daily sight. An abandoned borewell was renovated for rainwater harvesting. A freezer box and a mortuary van were bought at a cost of Rs 2.1 lakh, helping around 26 people use the facilities free of cost.
Many drops formed this ocean of kindness. Take J Kathiravan for example. Working as a head constable attached to Gurubarapalli police station, he is an active member of the Mallapadi Makkal Arakattalai. Kathiravan was the light of 13 Irula families in Marimanapalli village as he was instrumental in bringing electricity to the settlement, suffering for over two decades. The Arakattalai spent Rs 37,000 on solar lights for these residents. Kathiravan personally made sure that a few of them get ration, voter, and Aadhaar cards.
Six drinking water pipelines were also laid in the settlement after his efforts, which lasted for a year. “We also took support from a Hyderabad-based NGO to develop four government schools at a cost of Rs 70 lakh. The compound wall was built and toilets were renovated among others,” said the 40-year-old.
Circumstances led the villagers to the path of altruism. However, their determination to continue shows no sign of stopping. Ilaya Bharathi said ten CCTVs will be installed at four locations within a few days, Further, the group will plant saplings in the Mallapadi lake area.
(Edited by Ajay Unnikrishnan)