Copyright thehindu
Edamalakkudy, the first tribal panchayat in Kerala under the Munnar forest division in Idukki, has completed 15 years of formation. The panchayat formation declaration was made on November 1, 2010. However, after one and a half decades, the local body is struggling to get basic facilities. According to officials, the panchayat was established exclusively for the Muthuvan community to ensure its development. The total population of the panchayat is 2,236 belonging to 26 tribal settlements. But only four of these settlements—Edaliparakudy, Shedukudy, Nadukkudy, and Societykudy—have been provided with electricity. “The ghat road is the only way to reach Societykudy, the base camp of the panchayat, and there is no proper road connectivity to other settlements. To reach one settlement from another, people need to walk for four to five hours. Without proper road connectivity, taking patients to hospitals becomes a Herculean task. In three months, five lives were lost due to lack of timely and proper medical assistance. The tribal people use makeshift bamboo bridges to reach one settlement from another,” said a resident. Connectivity sought The death of a five-year-old boy from the Koodallarkudy settlement has highlighted the need for motorable roads to the remote hamlets in the panchayat. After the boy, Karthik, contracted fever, his family members had to carry him on a stretcher through the forest to the Mankulam hospital, where he succumbed to the disease. Carrying his body back to the hamlet was another ordeal. Days later, the boys’ grandmother, Rajakanni, 60, who too developed high fever, had to be carried on a makeshift stretcher for around 10 km through the dense forest to the hospital. Following such instances, the tribal people are demanding the construction of a road connecting the panchayat with the Mankulam-Adimaly route. Chandanam, a resident of Edamalakkudy, said: “in 2022, the State government allocated ₹18 crore to construct a road from Pettimudy to Edamalakkudy. But after three years, work has been completed only on 5 km. The government is allocating crores for tribal welfare, but the panchayat seems not to benefit from it,” he said. Subash Chandran, who wrote a book titled Edamalakkudy, said: “the tribal heads still have the right to manage the community. The Muthuvan community still follows their culture and language. However, after 15 years of its formation, the panchayat is suffering from a lack of connectivity and basic facilities.”
