The distance did not matter, nor did the rough terrain for close to 300 villagers of Vellakal, Natchmedu and Kurumalai in Anaicut constituency.
They trekked for seven kilometres from the villages located atop hills to cast their vote at a polling station in Sivanathapuram to fulfil their democratic duty.
With no roads and bus connectivity, the villagers said it took them nearly 1.5 hours to reach the polling booth by foot. “There are nearly 700 families living in the three villages but we do not have any basic amenity, including a proper road leading to the foothills,” said 67-year-old Chinnapattu.
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No political party canvassed for votes in these villages but the residents made it a point to exercise their voting right. But traversing the rough terrain and covering this distance by foot on polling day is nothing new for Chinnapattu and other elderly persons of the villages. “This has been the practice for every election,” he added.
Ganthi, a 55-year-old, said there are no medical facilities in their villages, and persons in need of medical care have to be carried down in “doli”. Majority of the villagers depend on agriculture.
“As there is no road, we are unable to sell our agricultural produce. We have to carry the produce down the hill to reach the customers,” he said.
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Thangamani, another villager, said they cultivated “samai”, “ragi” and “cholam” but depended on rains as there were no pumps to irrigate the fields. Kurumalai has a government school up to class VIII and students have to travel to the plains to continue their school education, another villager said.
“No political party climbed up the hill to seek votes from us. But, we wanted to fulfil our responsibility,” Chinnapattu added as he got ready to cast his vote, and commence a long walk back towards home along with other villagers.
“It will turn dark by the time we reach our homes,” Thangamani pointed out.