Battered road cuts off tribal villages in Jawadhu Hills

Forest dept road turns into nightmare for tribals of Nellivasalnadu

J Shanmugha Sundaram

Vellore: For tribal villagers of Nellivasalnadu Panchayat in Jawadhu Hills, it takes at least an hour to cover a distance of nearly 16 kilometres. The sole stretch that links them to Pudurnadu, the entry point of the tribal villages from downhill, is in a deplorable condition for over 5 years.

The 15 kilo metre stretch linking Pudur with Nellipattu, the last tribal village in the hills along Pudur-Nellivasal Road, is worse than a mud road with gaping potholes and craters. The road was laid way back in 2004 amidst hope for the tribals to reach the plains without much difficulty.

Eleven years now, the stretch that belongs to the Forest Department has turned into a nightmare for over 2,000 tribals living in Puliyur, Valasai, Malai Tirupattur, Malayandipatti, Nellivasal, Sembarai, Nellipattu and Melpatti in Nellivasalnadu panchayat and Chitthur, Kombai, Valuthalampattu, Melur and Keelur in Pudurnadu panchayat.

“We are facing plenty of hardship in using the badly maintained road. No repair work has been taken up by the forest department despite repeated pleas,” said 62 year-old T Jayaraman, a retired Mail Overseer of Postal Department and resident of Nellivasal. Former panchayat president of Nellivasalnadu T Vasudevan also echoed the same.

The villagers rely on this road for transporting their agricultural products downhill to the market in Tirupattur town. The other road connecting Nellivasal panchayat to Singarapettai in Dharmapuri district resembles a bridle path. The long demand to lay road along this stretch also fell in the deaf ears of the forest department officials. 

“The government had allocated Rs 40 crore to the forest department to take up development works, particularly road works, here. But the department has failed to do so,” said Secretary of Hill Tribe Peoples (ST) Welfare Association A Thukkan.

The severely-battered road is not only putting the tribals in hardship, but also the staff of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. The Corporation-operated mini-buses, which make 6 trips (up and down) a day, 108 ambulances to Nelivasal often develops technical snag and broke down.

 “The tyres of the bus plying in the stretch have to be replaced every 15 days. Rebuilt tyres are fit to use for six months on other roads, but it can be used only for two weeks on this route. Such is the condition of the road here,” said a driver. It takes not less than 55 minutes to cover the 16 kms stretch. 

They also said that they have been suffering with back pain due to the bad road conditions. “The officials are cutting our yearly increment, if the vehicle develops technical snag often,” he bemoaned.

It is also difficult for 108 ambulances to ply on this stretch. A staff said that they were unable to reach and transport the persons needing medical help, particularly pregnant women. “There have been situations when the ambulance broke down enroute to the hospital and the patient had to be shifted to another ambulance,” said an Emergency Medical Technician recollecting the tense moments.

An official in the forest department, requesting anonymity, said the State Government had issued an order and also sanctioned fund for forming linking road from Nellivasal to Singarapettai and relay the road between Nellivasal and Pudur. But the fund has not been utilised till date.

He said that the road works will be taken up within two months.