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Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
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Tamil Nadu
Unmotorable: The road from Tamarakkarai to Madam. BARGUR HILLS: R. Soora Naicken of Devarmalai is scared of rain. He does not want the skies to open up because on the days after rain, he will have to walk at least 10 km to reach Tamarakkarai, a hamlet on the main road in the hills, for all his needs. Be it to buy salt, sell his ragi or meet the village administrative officer of Bargur Panchayat, he will have to trek. Mr. Naicken has undertaken many such treks in the last 15 years or so to reach Bargur. This year again, he walked a couple of days ago because the road connecting Bargur with Madam, which passes via his village became unmotorable. On Bargur-Madam Road, in about a dozen hamlets live nearly 4,000 families, each of which has a tale similar to Mr. Naciken’s. The ordeal has affected students as well. “Middle school students from the villages are forced to skip classes because the buses don’t ply,” says P. Appusamy, a resident of Iretti and Anthiyur union secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pazhangudi Makkal Sangam, a body representing tribals. There are only two middle schools in the hills, in Bargur and Devarmalai. For high school, the students are left with no choice but to go to Anthiyur, which is in the plains, nearly 15 km away. The secretary adds, “In the seven elementary schools, the teachers find it difficult to walk to the schools, and on most occasions they do not report for duty.” The road is unmotorable in that the 22-km stretch has 10 big pits, which, in rain, are filled with slush making it difficult for buses to climb the already steep roads. As one moves towards Madam, the road is absent and the tract has only loose gravel which makes up for a road, he adds. On the other side of the hills at Merku Malai, things are equally bad. To reach Kongadai, villagers board a bus, which, however, reaches only Maniachi, where a river crossing makes it difficult for the buses to proceed further. From Maniachi, the villagers have to walk at least 10 km. The villagers say they want the district administration to lay roads immediately. They have made similar pleas, which, it appears, have fallen on deaf ears. “Last year, we, the residents of Bargur Hills, blocked the road to draw the attention of the district administration, which promised a solution in six months, which is yet to come,” says Mr. Appusamy.
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