VELLORE: Eleven years on and still there is no connecting road for a row of tribal villages of Nellivasalnadu panchayat in Jawadhu hills. It takes at least an hour to cover a distance of 16 kilometres.
The sole stretch that links the villages to Pudurnadu, the entry point at the foot hills, is in a deplorable condition for over five years.
The 15-kilometre stretch linking Pudur with Nellipattu, the last tribal village on the Pudur-Nellivasal Road, is worse than a mud road with gaping potholes and craters.
The road was laid way back in 2004 offering hope for the villagers to reach the plains without much difficulty.
Eleven years after, the stretch which is maintained by the forest department has turned into a nightmare for over 2,000 tribals living in Puliyur, Valasai, Malai Tirupattur, Malayandipatti, Nellivasal, Sembarai, Nellipattu and Melpatti in Nellivasalnadu panchayat and Chitthur, Kombai, Valuthalampattu, Melur and Keelur in Pudurnadu panchayat.
“We face several problems while using the ill-maintained road. No repair work has been taken up by the forest department despite repeated pleas,” said 62-year-old, T Jayaraman, a retired mail overseer of Postal department and resident of Nellivasal. Former panchayat president of Nellivasalnadu T Vasudevan echoed his opinion. The villagers rely on this road for transporting their agricultural produce downhill to the market in Tirupattur. The other road connecting Nellivasal to Singarapettai in Dharmapuri district resembles a bridle path.
“The government had allocated Rs 40 crore to the forest department to take up development works, particularly road works. But the department has failed to do so,” said A Thukkan, secretary of Hill Tribe Peoples (ST) Welfare Association.
The severely-battered road not only puts the tribals to hardship, but also staff of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, whose mini-buses make six trips a day and 108 ambulances as the vehicles often develop snags and suffer break downs.
“The tyres of the bus plying in the stretch have to be replaced every 15 days. Re-built tyres last for a period of six months on other roads, but can be used only for two weeks on this route. Such is the condition of the road,” said a driver.
It takes not less than 55 minutes to cover the 16 km stretch. Further, the crew say they have been suffering with back ache due to the bad road. “Our yearly increments are cut if the vehicle develops technical snag often,” they bemoaned.
It is also difficult for 108 ambulances to ply on this stretch. A staff said they were unable to reach on time and transport the persons needing medical help, particularly pregnant women.