School-going children from the Urali tribal community from Thadasalatti and Ittarai of Erode district in Tamil Nadu staged a protest on Monday, June 19, against government-run transport buses skipping their villages and seeking an increase in frequency of services. Nearly 80 residents, including children from both villages, laid a transport corporation bus at the nearby Bejalatti village in Thalamalai panchayat and demanded that the government officials take steps to ensure regularity of bus services, which were stopped citing bad road conditions. A Tamil Nadu Public Transport Corporation official said they would be restarting the services without delay.
When the bus service was stopped the students from the two villages were forced to walk 8-kilometers up and down for schooling. Twice a day, a bus from Sathyamangalam covers Dhimbham, Bejalatti, Thadasalatti, and Ittarai before reaching Thalavady. Residents from 150 households in Thadasalatti, and Ittarai villages are largely dependent on public transportation for jobs, education, and basic health care facilities. But in the last few weeks, the bus directly reached Thalavadi by skipping these two villages.
“When asked why the services were stopped they said it was hard for them to drive on a road that has many potholes. Instead of repairing the road, they stopped the service,” said Arulsamy, Talavadi panchayat union council member, who led the protest.
He said discontinuation of public transport cannot be justified by citing adverse road conditions. “They are operating bus services thrice a day to Thengumarahada and Makkampalayam of Kadambur hills which have the worst road conditions in the district. Even during the monsoon, they operate buses from Bhavani Sagar dam to these places which are located more than 30 km away from the dam. But here they are citing bad road conditions, tiger reserve and interventions by the forest department which make no sense,” said Arulsamy.
According to him, several tribal hamlets which fall under Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) have only metalled roads. “Tribal community residents from Gethesal, Kali Dhimbam, Mavanatham, and Ramaranai use such roads which are not very useful during the monsoon. Forest department said it would be harmful for reptiles and other animals to cross the road if it was filled with tar or bitumen,” Arulsamy alleged. “Our basic rights are denied just because we happen to live inside the forests, which they now call tiger reserves, for generations,” he said.
Vinoth, branch manager of Tamil Nadu Public Transport Corporation in Thalavadi told TNM that they resumed the service on June 19 itself following the protest. “We stopped services due to the poor weather and road conditions as it was very difficult to drive on the road during the rainy season,” he said. They had sent a request to the Forest Department to reconstruct the road and are awaiting a response, he said.
Road development in forested regions face several hurdles because of stringent rules. "The status quo of the roads passing through National Parks and Core Critical Tiger Habitats (CTH) shall remain the same. The roads could be maintained and repaired in the best manner possible in their current form and present width. No widening or upgradation is to be allowed. If it is an existing tarred road, it shall be maintained as such and no widening of the tarred surface or the widening of the road itself, may be done," is one of the recommendations given by the National Board for Wildlife in 2014 regarding roads in protected areas.
Talking to TNM, Kannaiyan, president of Thalavadi Farmers Association from Erode urged the government to change the guidelines to support the tribal communities. "The issue is not only pertaining to the tribes in STR but also across the country. Government should consider amending the guidelines because the indigenous people also play a part in conservation. Conservation is pointless if guardians of nature are prevented from accessing the basic rights, especially during a medical emergency," he said.
In many tribal settlements in hilly areas of Tamil Nadu, tribespeople have no other recourse than covering the stretch of thick forests by foot before reaching the nearest town or village which has better road and transport connectivity. The lack of road facility in Vellore’s Alleri hills resulted in the death of an 18-month-old toddler from the Malayali tribal community last month.