Members of Nedungundram tribal settlement in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), around 20 km off Valparai in Coimbatore district, are in a sigh of relief as they are soon going to have a bitumen road connecting the outside world that their ancestors dreamt of for decades.
The Valparai Municipality has taken up the work of tar-topping the existing 4-km mud road, namely Kuthiraivandi Saalai, which was constructed during the British colonial rule.
Valparai Municipal Chairman S. Alagusundaravalli said Nedungundram was the first tribal settlement in ATR to get a tar-topped road.
Due to lack of proper road to the settlement, Kadar tribal families of Nedungundram have been using a steep shortcut of about 1.7 km through the forest to reach Villoni, from where transportation facilities to Valparai can be accessed.
“We are told by authorities that tar road will be laid for a distance of about 3.2 km in revenue land, out of the total distance of 4 km from Villoni pirivu. The remaining 800 metres fall under the tiger reserve,” said K. Rathinasamy, head of Nedungundram settlement.
Kadar tribal leader S. Thangasamy said multiple representations were made to authorities over the years to get a bitumen road on the revenue land stretch. “We are happy that finally the road is being laid,” he said.
Due to lack of proper road, some of the tribal families from Nedungundram settlement had moved to places close to Valparai for better facilities, including the education of children, in the past.
There also had been incidents wherein tribal people from various settlements in the Anamalai hills, who were in need of medical intervention, died while they were being carried on makeshift stretchers to main roads.
At present, there are 65 families in the settlement with a total population of 159.
“Nedungundram is considered as the mother village of Kadar tribe, from where members of the community moved to other parts of Anamalai hills and to the Kerala side over the years. The settlement had over 100 families some decades ago and many moved to places close to Valparai for better facilities. While the Tangedco has tar roads inside the tiger reserve, having denied the same to tribal settlements made some of these families leave their ancestral land,” said tribal welfare activist S. Thanraj of Ekta Parishad, Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Thanraj wanted the district administration and Forest Department to accord permission to tar-top the entire 4 km mud road, including the 800 metre in the tiger reserve area.
There are over 30 tribal settlements in Coimbatore and Tiruppur district areas of ATR.
