After more than three hours of talks with protesting tribal communities, Collector and District Election Officer K. Tharpagaraj, has assured residents in Pungampattu Nadu and Nellivasal Nadu village panchayat atop Jawadhu Hills in Tirupatur that work on civic amenities, especially much delayed bitumen road to the plains, will be fulfilled once the existing Model Code of Conduct comes to an end.
Accompanied by M. Mahendran, District Forest Officer (DFO), Tirupattur, and S. Umamaheswari, Project Director, DRDA, Tirupattur, Mr. Tharpagaraj travelled to the villages to convince residents to vote in the upcoming elections. “The major demand of the tribal community was road facility from the hills to the plains. Paperwork for road formation has been completed,” he said.
Pungampattu Nadu, Pudur Nadu and Nellivasal Nadu are three major tribal villages on the Tirupattur side of Jawadhu Hills. These panchayats comprise 32 tribal hamlets, mostly atop the hills with around 17,000 voters. These remote tribal hamlets are located deep inside reserve forests (RF) that come under the Tirupattur forest range in the hills. Jolarpet and Tirupattur are nearest towns that are located around 25 kms from these villages in the hills.
Along with senior forest and rural development officials, Mr. Tharpagaraj spoke to village elders, ward councillors of the panchayats, block level officials, residents on various demands put forth by them to the visiting team. “With no road and street lights, transport of sick persons and pregnant women at night to the nearest hospital has been an ordeal for tribal communities in the hills. We need a proper road to travel safely even during the night,” said S. Mayan, a resident.
During the talks, Mr. Tharpagaraj explained to them that necessary clearance from the Forest Department to lay bitumen has been given to the district administration. As per norms, DFO is empowered to give no objection certificate (NOC) up to three hectares of forest land for tribal welfare. Also, a proposal for road formation has been made by DRDA with available forest land.
The Collector showed all relevant documents that have been prepared for road work and other civic amenities to the tribal villages in the hills to tribal elders at the meeting. Following assurance from the Collector, residents agreed to withdraw their poll boycott.
Forest officials said that on an average, each tribal hamlet has around 40-50 families. Students in these hamlets have to study in government schools in Pudur Nadu or Nellivasal Nadu, which is around 12 kms away from these hamlets.
At present, only muddy pathways are available for residents to reach these villages for their day-to-day work. Due to lack of roads, bus services and ambulances were not available to them. Tractors are used to transport essentials including to the fair price shops in the hamlets. Pregnant women were carried by abled men to health centres in these villages.
