Rottikadai residents demand ration shop with safety measures after jumbo attack
COIMBATORE: Residents of Rottikadai have demanded that the civil supplies department construct a ration shop with safety measures, as the existing shop was vandalised by a wild elephant on Saturday morning.
Rottikadai, near Valparai, is home to around 400 families and has lacked a permanent ration shop for several years. The people in the hilly region work at a tea estate and depend on the commodities offered by the civil supplies department through the ration shop.
"Ration commodities are a great support to us to manage our monthly expenses for food. The shop has been operating from a noon-meal kitchen room of a government school. The lack of safety for the commodities attracts wild animals," said N Krishnan, a driver from Rottikadai.
He said the shop was vandalized by a lone wild elephant on Saturday around 5 am. One sack of dhal and sugar, four sacks of rice, and around 50 liters of oil were damaged. The officials temporarily fixed the damage and continued to store the materials inside the same building. However, residents fear that leaving the commodities in the same building without proper safety measures will attract wild elephants and may pose a threat to the residents.
"There is another newly constructed noon-meal kitchen of a government school. We are asking the officials and the local body to shift the ration shop there temporarily. After arranging a permanent safe place, they can relocate the shop there," Krishnan added.
"We are planning to replace the existing shops with container shops at three locations in Rottikadai, Karumalai, and Akkamalai, where elephant movement is very frequent. As the work for the project (roping in a private partnership) is in progress, the shop has to run in the same building. Once it is implemented, no such incidents would happen," said a civil supplies department official.
The district administration has already opened container ration shops at Muthumudi and Thaimudi tea estates in 2024. The project, with the support of GD Naidu Charities, was extended to Iyerpadi, Pannimedu, Anaimudi, and Cinchona 6, 7 of the Rayan division this year.