For the 200-odd people living at Kathirimalai tribal hamlet without basic amenities all these years, digging a well has ensured protected drinking for them throughout the year.
The hamlet, located at Bargur Panchayat in Anthiyur Taluk, is 82 km from Erode and can be reached only on foot by passing through the rough terrain for nine km from Malayalathan Colony at the foothills at Kolathur near Mettur in Salem district. A total of 76 families comprising 267 people have been living in the hamlet without electricity and they depend on farming in the small holdings at the hilltop. Solar panels were installed in 2018 while donkeys were used to ferry poll materials to the polling station in the past two elections. It takes over five hours from the foothills to reach the hamlet located at an altitude of 1,052 metre and during emergencies, patients are carried in cloth cradles to the hospitals at Kolathur.
Two open wells served the water needs of people, but they faced difficulty when the wells went dry during summer. Hence, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a 12.5-metre deep well was dug at the hamlet at ₹ 9.97 lakh. Work that began three months ago was completed recently.
M. Balaganesan, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency, told The Hindu the well would ensure water availability for people throughout the year and added that local people carried out the digging and construction work and were paid wages under the scheme.
