In the absence of convenient bus timing, over 25 students in Kongadai hamlet were forced to cover eight km on foot every day to reach their school at Osur in Bargur hills. Students from a few other villages either set out to school on foot or take a ride on pick-up vans and other modes of transport.
Fifteen villages with a population of 5,200 are located in the western hill area of Bargur.
The lack of public transportation continued to be a major problem for the people and students, who depend on pick-up vans to reach Thamaraikarai, Bargur and Anthiyur.
In February 2018, a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus service was operated from Anthiyur to Kongadai. Though the introduction of bus service was seen as a major relief to the people, the timing did not help the service meet their needs.
The bus departs from Anthiyur at 7 a.m. and reaches Kongadai at 9.30 a.m. In the return direction, it starts at 9.40 a.m. and reaches Osur at 10 a.m. where the Government Higher Secondary School is located. The bus is of no use to the students from Kongadai, Kovil Natham, Sengulam, Alanai and Agnipavi as they have to be in school by 9.15 a.m.
S.C. Natraj, Director of Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR), a Sathyamangalam-based NGO, said “Steps should be taken to operate the bus a little earlier so that it caters to the needs of the students”.
