The district administration and the Tribal Welfare Department have taken a serious note of the plight of the Malampandaram tribe at Nilackal and Chalakkayam in the Sabarimala forests.
Responding to a report in The Hindu on Monday, District Collector S. Harikishore said the administration would take steps for the rehabilitation of the nomadic tribal families. He directed the Tribal Welfare Department to ensure provision of food, water, and healthcare to the tribal families camping at Nilackal and Chalakkayam.
District Tribal Development Officer K. Mukundan said the department was planning to set up a model settlement for the 25 nomadic Malampandaram families identified at Nilackal, Plappally, and Chalakkayam on 4.04 hectares of forestland at Manjathode, near Laha.
He said many members of the nomadic community seldom preferred to live in a permanent settlement. However, some youths were keen on settling down at the proposed tribal settlement at Manjathode.
He said a request of the Tribal Welfare Department to the Forest Department a year ago for diverting 4.04 hectares of forestland at Manjathode was awaiting clearance at the regional office of the Forest Department at Bangalore.
Mr. Mukundan said the department had deposited Rs.133 lakh with the Kerala Police Housing Construction Corporation for setting up a tribal rehabilitation centre at Manjathode.
He said Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribes P.K. Jayalakshmi had directed the officials concerned to explore the possibility of allotting one hectare of forestland for rehabilitating the nomadic tribal families as per the Development Rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2003.
P.S. Uthaman, literacy worker and Vana Samrakshana Samiti leader at the Rajampara tribal settlement at Laha, said these tribal families should be rehabilitated at a colony near Laha as they would be near forests as well as human habitation.
A matter of concern
Meanwhile, the condition of Kalyani of Chalakkayam, who claims to be 108 years’ old, has become a matter of concern.
Her relatives said they were shifting her from one place to another in the forests for want of food and water.
