COIMBATORE: A portion of the wall of a tribal family’s house in Chinnarpathi settlement near Aliyar Dam in Pollachi collapsed on Saturday evening following the rains. Earlier, a wall of their steel-sheet roof house, which was provided by the forest department, had collapsed on Friday morning, but they had to stay in the house as they were not provided with any alternative shelter by the forest department. K Mayavan (39), who lives in the house along with his wife and four children, alleged that they had to deal with the wild animal elephant scare apart from the wall collapse on Friday night.
Apart from Mayavan’s house, there are over 27 houses in the settlement between Valparai Ghat road and Aliyar Dam, which comes under the Pollachi forest range, which are in a dilapidated condition and need renovation. “We are unable to bear the cold after the wall collapsed. Even though we informed the forest department about this issue, they have not taken any steps to help us yet,” Mayavan said.
Mayavan said that they had to spend Friday night in the partially collapsed house as the neighbour’s houses didn’t have any space. V S Paramasivam, president of the district chapter of Tamil Nadu Tribal Association, said, “All houses in Chinnarpathi settlement whose roof is made up of asbestos or steel sheets are in bad shape and can collapse anytime given the heavy rains predicted for the state. We have been demanding the forest as well as the revenue department to construct new concrete houses for the people in Chinnarpathi, but to no avail.”
Meanwhile, a lone elephant was spotted in the Aliyar forest area, forcing many tribals to stay indoors.
V Pugalenthi, Pollachi forest range officer said that the department had sent a proposal to the state government earlier this year seeking funds to construct houses for the tribals in Chinnarpathi. He added, “We have distributed galvanized iron sheets to help them cover the damaged portions of their houses for the time being. Also, the lone elephant has moved to another location.”
Speaking to TNIE, Pollachi Sub-Collector S Priyanka said, “I have ordered revenue officials to visit the place and make arrangements for shifting them to an alternative place, if they need it immediately. We are working to list out the houses that are in bad shape and to provide proper housing to them.”