Anthiyur MLA A.G. Venkatachalam walked for 10 km through the Anthiyur forest in Erode district on Sunday October 22, 2023 and reached Kuttaiyur village, located on the Tamil Nadu – Karnataka border, and listened to the grievances of the people there.
The village, with a population of 450, falls under the Bargur panchayat in Anthiyur taluk. The nearest habitation is Makkampalayam in the Koothampalayam panchayat under the Sathyamangalam taluk, and is located 5 km away.
In the absence of road and transport facilities, people have to walk 5 km to reach the Karnataka border, cross the Palar river and get to Jallipalayam in Karnataka, to purchase essentials. When the river floods, and also when Karnataka closed its border during the Covid-19 pandemic, the village was completely cut off and people were unable to buy groceries or get to hospitals.
During medical emergencies, doctors in Karnataka provide first-aid to patients and referred them to Bargur. Patients then have to travel 24 km through Karnataka roads to get to Kargekandi in Chamarajanagar district on the inter-state border, and then travel another 20 km to reach the Government Primary Health Centre in Bargur. To reach the Government Hospital in Anthiyur, people have to travel another 32 km from Bargur.
Very often, people carrying products are denied entry across the border at Karnataka, and village residents have, for long, been demanding a road through the forest from Sengulam to Kuttaiyur.
On Sunday, the MLA along with Forest Department staff and a few village resudents set off on foot from Sengulam in the Kongadai West Bargur Hill area to Kuttaiyur and reached the village in four hours through rough terrain. The MLA was given a warm reception and he then listened to residents’ grievances. Residents told him that a motorable road would bring about a big change in their lives, and wanted him to take necessary steps to this end.
Mr. Venkatachalam told The Hindu that if a road was laid for seven km, the people of Kuttaiyur need not travel 40-70 km to reach hospitals, schools or shops. “The issue will be taken up with the Chief Minister so that village residents get this road at the earliest,” he added.
The MLA said a very few trees need to be axed to lay the road, and added that compensatory land to be given to the Forest Department was already earmarked at Tholli village.
