DHARMAPURI: The hopes of a tribal settlement with immense growth prospects in Dharmapuri are being dashed due to woefully inadequate public transport services. Frustrated, tribal residents in Vathalmalai have now urged the Dharmapuri administration to allocate more buses for the convenience of the people, especially farmers.
Vathalamalai, which is a settlement comprising over 10 villages, received its first bus service in 2022. Following this one bus makes a trip three times in the day transporting people from the Dharmapuri bus stand and the hamlet. However residents stated, “More buses need to be allocated considering the tourism potential. Further more buses would aid farmers better market their produce, improve education,” they said.
Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Agriculturist Laborers Association, J Prathapan, said “In 2022 the TNSTC allocated one bus to Vathalmalai. One of the key occupations of the people here is cultivation of millet, pepper, coffee and other crops. Farmers are not able to transport their goods to the market because of the limited seating capacity in the buses and the increasing number of commuters.
In some cases farmers make multiple trips to the markets in Dharmapuri to sell their produce or employ private transport for which they have to pay a significant portion of their profits. Hence we urge the administration to ensure more buses to the hamlet,” he said.
Another resident of Vathalmalai, R Selvam, a shopkeeper said, “As the connectivity im proved, the administration is focused on developing Vathalmalai as a tourism hub. To ensure this over Rs 2.36 crore worth of projects including rest stops and tourism activities are being prepared. However, only one bus that makes three trips daily is insufficient for the people.”
“Usually buses are overcrowded, over 50 people cram in the bus to reach Dharmapuri. So allocating another bus could reduce the problem,” he said. Another resident, M Shanmugam from Palsilambu, said, “We had filed petitions reading this demand multiple times and we were assured that steps would be taken.
However, so far we have not been provided an additional bus. The allocation of buses is not only for tourism but also for education. Most students have to go to Dharmapuri for higher education and having more buses would provide the students with more options to take up additional courses of diplomas which would open employment opportunities”.
When TNIE spoke to officials in the Dharmapuri administration, they said, “The district administration is focused on the development of Vathalmalai. Steps are being undertaken to ensure development of tourism and bus connectivity to the hamlet. Their demand would be considered soon.”