More than 100 residents from indigenous settlements in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) staged a protest in front of the forest range office in Ulandy in Top Slip in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district on Sunday, April 9. Theirs was a long-standing demand – electricity for their hamlets. Holding primitive torches, they garlanded televisions, mixies, and grinders that were given to them as part of government schemes, to show how absolutely useless the appliances were without electricity.
ATR is home to six tribal communities – Kadar, Malasar, Mala Malasar, Mudhuvar, Eravalar, and Pulaiyar. For decades, many of their settlements are missing basic infrastructure like electricity, roads, adequate housing, and sanitation. Out of 18 tribal settlements, 15 do not have electricity.
Mala Malasars from Nagaroothu and Koomatti settlements, Malasars from Kozhikamuthi, and Kadars from Erumaparai participated in the protest, which was organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Tamil Nadu Tribal People’s Association. Notably, Kozhikamuthi was recently in the news after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a Rs 1 lakh reward and housing units for mahouts and cavadis (helpers) from this settlement. This was following The Elephant Whisperers bagging the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short last month. The 39-minute film tells the story of how Bomman and Bellie, a tribal couple, take care of an orphaned elephant calf. Tribes from Kozhikamuthi are caregivers of captive and orphaned wild elephants.
The protesters alleged that the Forest Department is denying them basic infrastructure and development citing that their settlements fall under a tiger reserve. “Yet tourist resorts that are under the supervision of the Forest Department have electricity,” the protesters pointed out. They also demanded permanent job orders for the indigenous people who have been working with the Forest Department for more than 10 years, and a salary hike from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 for those working in Eco Development Committee (EDC) shops.
Nagaroothu 1 is quite close to the Sarkarpathy power plant, yet the Forest Department has denied electricity citing the same reason – that the settlement is inside a tiger reserve. At Kozhikamuthi elephant camp, forest offices do have electricity but it is barred for the settlement residents. Nagaroothu 2 and Koomatti are located in inaccessible areas and clearance is needed from the Union government for electricity connection. Erumaparai residents have been demanding electricity for their village from as early as 1985 when the government constructed eight houses for them. Before that, they used to live in huts.
Residents said that before the status change of the protected forest from wildlife sanctuary to tiger reserve, several tribal villages in ATR had electricity connection. “But electricity to Kavarakkal, Kadambarai, and Udumbanparai settlements were disconnected by the government over the years citing that it is not allowed inside tiger reserves,” said Saathukutty, a Kadar tribesman from the Erumaparai settlement who participated in the protest, told TNM. His village, home to 36 Kadar families, has never had an electricity connection.
“Even now the electricity lines from the Sarkarpathy power station run through our village to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. But we are not allowed to enjoy the electricity. Our children are deprived of education because of the non-availability of electricity and other basic infrastructure. Most of them drop out of school before they reach Class 10,” he added.
When asked about electricity from solar panels, Saathukutty said that solar panels and solar lamps are of no use in their hamlet – which is situated in the Western Ghats – as it receives rain all year round and the weather is cloudy most of the time. “If we charge the solar panels for a full day, we get enough power to last us for only two hours at night,” he explained.
Lamenting that the government has denied any development in their hamlets in the name of the tiger reserve, Padmini, a Kadar tribeswoman, said, “In this country, tigers and elephants are more respected than us and it breaks me.” Padmini is a former CPIM councillor who has been trying to get electricity for her village for decades now. “Whenever we give petitions, the officials direct us from one department to another,” she added.
After many petitions to the Forest Department, last April a group of officials from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) visited the village and made promises. But, a year later, the residents have still not heard anything from the officials.
Talking to TNM, the president of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People’s Association, VS Paramasivam, said that the Forest Department was trying to evict the indigenous communities from the forests by denying them access to basic infrastructure. “Just 10 km away, Adivasis residing in the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala enjoy all the basic amenities, including advanced schools, electricity, and concrete houses. But tribes in Tamil Nadu are still protesting to get electricity and roads,” he said.
Sethumadai TANGEDCO officials said that they are waiting for the NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the Forest Department for Erumaparai. Speaking to TNM, a source from TANGEDCO said that transformers for power distribution were installed for Erumaparai in May last year. “It is the Forest Department that is delaying the NOC. We are all set to provide electricity to the village, but we need to ask forest officials why they are yet to provide the NOC,” the source said.
Jayaraj, Deputy Director in charge of ATR, told TNM that the application process to get permission under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 was delayed. The Act restricts the use of reserved forests for non-forest purposes, so in order to fell trees to erect electric poles, the Forest Department needs prior approval from the Union government.
“Despite several villages being located close to roads, they fall under the status of forest, which is causing the delay. Now, we have received directions from the Union government to give electricity as per the norms in the Forest Rights Act, 2006,” Jayaraj added.