The road to Edaliparakudy, which was ‘opened’ with much fanfare, last year, remains a dream to the people of Edamalakkudy – the remotest tribal grama panchayat in Kerala.
Several portions of the unfinished road have been washed away in the unexpected spell of summer rain, and trip jeep operators have suspended services. “How can we conduct services without a road,” says Satheesh, driver of one of the two jeeps equipped to wade through the terrain.
Edaliparakudy is almost 4 km from the panchayat at Societykudy. The road is the only connection to 26 tribal kudies (settlements) at Edamalakkudy. The trip jeeps charge Rs.180 from Munnar to Edaliparakudy. The people can’t afford it and hence walk till Pettimudy. “The charge to Munnar is Rs.120. We can’t afford it, so we carry all items on head to Edamalakkudy,” says Achuthan of Ampalaparakudy.
Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribes P.K. Jayalakshmi had allotted Rs 2.5 crore to construct the ‘road.’ The construction was entrusted to the three Vana Samrakshana Samathi (VSS) in the Munnar forest division.
Mr. Achuthan says if the road was made motorable, they could reach Munnar at Rs.20 or Rs.30, instead of Rs.120. Work on the road to Pettimudy, a distance of 18 km from Societykudy, was begun in 2010 with the participation of tribal people under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Ramany, chairperson of the Kudumbasree Mission, says nearly 600 tribespeople worked daily, walking 18 km to Pettymudy. “We were paid Rs.125 a day but we were happy we were working for a road to connect us.”
An official of the Edamalakkudy grama pqanchayat told The Hindu that nearly 80 per cent of the road work was completed by the tribespeople. The stretch of road now paved with stones by the tribespeople before the work was entrusted to the Forest Department still remains traffic-worthy. “If the work had been continued under the MGNREGS, the road would have been traffic-worthy for jeeps now,” says Ms Ramani.
According to the Munnar Divisional Forest Officer K.J Samuel, the delay in completing the work was due to delay in fund allocation from the SC/ST Department.
