A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the State government to come out with concrete proposals to address the pathetic condition faced by the tribal people in the Vaniyampuzha, Tharippapetti, Iruttukuthi, Thandamkallu and Kumbalappara hamlets in forests across the Chaliyar river at Munderi in Nilambur.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice A.J. Desai and Justice V.G. Arun made the observation when a petition filed by Aryadan Shouketh, former chairperson of the Nilambur municipality, and a tribesperson came up for hearing. Mr. Shouketh pointed out that tribal communities in Pothugal, Vazhikadavu and Karulai grama panchayats in Nilambur were living in miserable conditions due to the inaction of the government authorities.
Meanwhile, in a report filed before the Bench, the Malappuram District Legal Services Authority said that the authority secretary had visited the Vaniyampuzha, Tharippapetti, Iruttukuthi, and Kumbalappara tribal hamlets under the Pothukal forest station and reached the hamlets by crossing the Chaliyar river on a bamboo raft. There was no bridge over the river. The bridge constructed was washed away in the 2019 floods. The remains of the collapsed bridge was noticed. In fact, no positive steps had been taken to construct a new bridge since 2019.
Around 400 people, including women and children, depended on the bamboo raft to cross the Chaliayar river to reach the mainland. Of the 36 homes in the Iruttu Kuthi colony, only 11 had toilet facilities. The tribes also told the secretary that they remained cut off from the mainland for three months during monsoon and their children could not attend classes during the period because of the swollen river. The tribal families in Vaniyampuzha had been living in temporary sheds for four years without electricity and toilets. Only one “she-toilet” had been installed in the hamlets for all the 46 families living in the place. Their living condition was too pathetic.
The tribals in Thandankallu tribal colonies had been staying in unsafe, old quarters of a seed farm, Munderi, since 2019. They also faced scarcity of drinking water. Poverty struck in the colonies during monsoon. The construction of a news bridge was the only solution.
The court adjourned to August 10 the petition for further hearing.
