TIRUCHY: The long-pending demand of people living in the foothills of Kolli Hills and Pachamalai Hills in Tiruchy district for road connectivity between the villages has finally been met as the forest department has recently built a two-kilometre tar road connecting Naganallur with Sukkalampatti, a tribal village located in the foothills of the Kolli Hills, at a cost of Rs 80 lakh.
Officials from the forest department in Tiruchy said the road has been built under a special scheme for infrastructure development in tribal habitations. Sukkalampatti falls under the Vairichettipalayam panchayat, while Naganallur is located along the main road connecting Thuraiyur and Uppiliyapuram. Around 300 families reside in these villages.
Similarly, a road connecting Yettimadai with Solamathi tribal village has been laid over a length of 0.97 kilometres at a cost of Rs 53 lakh. The improved road will benefit residents of Top Sengattupatti, Keezhkarai, and Kambur, covering nearly 300 tribal families, officials said.
A senior forest department official said the improved road infrastructure will be a boon for farmers transporting inputs to their fields and produce to the markets. "Due to the poor condition of the earlier roads, villagers faced great difficulty in commuting. From now on, they can travel without major hurdles," the official added.
Due to the bad road conditions, government buses were not operated to these places. With improvement in infrastructure, activist N Saravanan has urged transport authorities to operate bus services to benefit the local population.
Meanwhile, the forest department has taken up the upgradation of a 2.64-kilometre stretch on the Manalodai-Chinna Iluppur route, located atop the Pachamalai Hills, at an estimated cost of Rs 2.45 crore. Once completed, residents of Manalodai, Chinna Iluppur, Periya Iluppur, Puthur, and Parathalpalayam will benefit, officials said.