The tribespeople living in Alli Moopan hamlet at Thekkadi in Nemmara forest division began constructing a road through the jungle, challenging the resistance posed by the Forest officials.
The tribespeople began their road work on Gandhi Jayanti day after their decades-long demand fell on deaf ears. Marooned in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve within Muthalamada village of Palakkad district, the people of Thekkadi cannot reach their panchayat or village office at Muthalamada without entering Tamil Nadu.
They are travelling nearly 60 km from Parambikulam via Tamil Nadu to reach Muthalamada for any civic-related matters. A road through the forest will reduce the current detour by 10 times. “We have been suffering for long, and demanding this road for ages. But none cared. The forest road will take us to Muthalamada in six kilometers,” said tribal youngster Muthu.
The six-kilometer stretch from Thekkady to Chemmanampathy will resolve a long-pending issue faced by the tribespeople living at Parambikulam. The COVID-19 lockdown had caused hardships to the people of Thekkady as Tamil Nadu authorities did not give permission for their travel.
“To go to our panchayat office to get a certificate or to pay the tax, we will have to get the permission of Tamil Nadu. We have no alternative now but to construct a road on our own,” said tribal leader Chandran.
He said the tribespeople were protecting the forest from encroachers. “But for us, thieves would have plundered this woods,” he said.
The protesting tribespeople said that governments that kept alternating in five years and the people’s representatives had all promised them about the road, but none did anything sincerely for them.
“We chose Gandhi Jayanti day for this noble act as Mahatma had earned India freedom. Although India got freedom 73 years ago, the people of Thekkady are still in bondage,” said Chandran.
The tribespeople carried the photos of Mahatma Gandhi while constructing the road. Although the authorities tried to dissuade the people from “illegally constructing the road”, the tribespeople did not withdraw.
Forest authorities slapped a case against the group.
