The construction of the road to Edamalakkudy, the remotest tribal grama panchayat in the Munnar forest division, is hanging fire after work was stopped about six months ago. The road from Pettimudy to Edamalakkudy, a stretch of 22 km, will connect the 26 tribal settlements in area.
The road is the only link to the isolated tribal panchayat, where people walk the distance and goods are carried as headload to the panchayat. An amount of Rs.2.15 crore was earmarked for the road after Minister for Scheduled Tribes P.K. Jayalakshmi announced a Rs.10.35-crore special package during her visit to the village in 2012.
The work was first entrusted with the Vana Samrakshana Samithy (VSS) under the Forest Department and later to Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (Kitco) Ltd. An official of the Kitco told The Hindu on Wednesday that the agreement for the supervision of the work was cancelled after a host of problems. He said that he could not say when the work would resume or whether there would be a new agreement.
Transportation costs
A large portion of earthwork of the road till Edaliparakudy, a stretch of 18 km, was washed away, making it difficult even to walk. The distance from Edaliparakudy to Societykudy, which is the base camp of the grama panchayat, is 4 km.
The charge for transporting goods as headload to the village from Pettymudy is Rs.10.50 and Rs.14.50 in the return direction. For any item, including ration rice, tribespeople have to bear this additional expense.
The tribespeople sell their farm produce, including organic cardamom, to the VSS and they bear the additional costs. And the price for their quality produce is far below the market rate. If the road work was completed, it would have solved many problems that the villagers face.
Under job scheme
Edamalakkudy grama panchayat president V. Govindaraj told The Hindu that the work had now been undertaken by the tribespeople themselves under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He said that he could not say when the work would be completed without the help of the experts or the engineering wing.
