THENI: It is a long and arduous drive from Kurangani in Bodinayakanur taluk to Muthuvakudi, a tribal hamlet located in the heart of Kottakudi hills. Even though the distance is just six kilometres, travelling on this mud road can sometimes be the difference between life and death for the nearly 45 families living in the hamlet.
For nearly half a century, the residents of Muthuvakudi, a hamlet populated by members of the Muthuva tribe, have been denied a pucca road.
“After the Kurangani forest fire in 2018, which claimed 13 lives, the forest department blocked the entry of vehicles at the Kurangani check post. We had to bring a pregnant woman from our hamlet on a doli to Kurangani before we could take her to the hospital in Bodinayakanur. However, she passed away before she could receive medical treatment,” says Manikandan, a resident.
Even though the ban on vehicles was revoked in 2019, after protests and the tribals boycotting the Lok Sabha election, not much has changed.
“Even now, government hospital staff look down on us and delay treatment. After the checkpost was closed in 2018, Uthampalayam sub-collector Vaithiyanathan visited the spot, pacified us and made efforts to reopen the checkpost. To date, we have to walk six kilometres to buy basic goods, access hospitals, and even to cast votes,” Manikandan added.
For five Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, various political parties and their candidates have assured a pucca road and other facilities for the hamlet. This year around, such promises seem like déja vu to the residents of Muthuvakudi. Yet, they remain hopeful.
“We belonged to a nomadic tribe. So naturally, when I was a child, our family kept moving from one place to another in search of livelihood. After the Forest Rights Act came into force in 2006, such migration was prohibited. I have settled here since,” says G Mariammal (58).
“We now work as labourers in cardamom and coffee plantations. We get paid `350, while the men are paid `500 in daily wages. However, such work is only seasonal. We have built houses with soil and stones found locally,” she said, adding that while solar-powered houses were constructed for nearly 30 families in 2021, the other families are yet to get such houses. “Transportation is the biggest challenge as we don’t have good roads. To visit Kurangani by jeep, it still takes us 45 minutes. Even then, we have to visit Bodinayakanur to access other facilities.”
Although the government gave free gas stoves and LPG connections to the residents of Muthuvakudi, they must visit Bodinayakanur to collect the cylinders.
“A visit to Kurangani costs nearly `1,500 as we have to hire a jeep. When we led a nomadic life, the lack of facilities did not impact us. Now that we are forced to live in a settlement, the lack of amenities is affecting us. We have to relieve ourselves in the forest, keeping a lookout for snakes and other insects. Our pleas for better infrastructure seem to have evaded the district administration and the officials,” rues Seethaiammal, 55, who resides in a worn-out hut.
“Earlier, people visited Kurangani to purchase rice and other rations, and hired horses to bring back the goods. Now, ration shop workers bring the items and distribute them here once a month. That is a saving grace,” she pointed out.
Another resident, Nagaraj, told TNIE that he was not able to study. “Though we have a primary school, the teachers visit only once or twice a month. A Class 12 pass-out, who worked at a plantation nearby, was hired to teach students. Female teachers do not visit the hamlet owing to the lack of transport facilities,” says the 30-year-old local.
Be it further studies or in times of pregnancy, people opt to shift to Kerala’s Munnar or other places temporarily as they have better access to facilities.
Kottakudi panchayat president T Rajendran told TNIE that while Muthuvakudi falls under his panchayat, the forest department had initially denied permission to build a road. “It has given clearance now. Collector RV Shajeevana has sent a proposal to construct a cement road here and it will happen very soon,” he added.