The Central government’s approval is required under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, to lay a bitumen road in the Alleri hillock in Vellore district, where a tribal girl, bitten by a snake, died while being taken to hospital by foot.
District Forest Officer (Vellore Range) S. Kalanidhi told The Hindu that a joint survey by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and the Forest Department was under way in the hillock to ascertain the land needed for laying a bitumen road from Varadalampattu at the foot to the top of the hillock. “As forests is a subject that is on the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the Central government’s approval is required. We may get the approval because it is a tribal village,” Mr. Kalanidhi said.
On May 26, the 18-month-old girl, who was bitten by a snake at Athimarathurkollai in the Alleri hillock, was carried on foot to the Government Taluk Hospital at Anaicut. She died on the way. A video of the parents later taking the body of the child back home was widely shared on the social media.
On Monday, Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian consoled the family of the child in the village before inspecting the amenities at Athimathurkollai , Palamarathukollai and Vazhaipanthal tribal villages in the Anaicut taluk.
Forest officials said that of the 5.15 km of the road that have to be bitumen-topped in the Alleri hillock, 4.8 km falls in the reserve forest, which is thickly populated by spotted deer, Indian gaur, wild boar and peacocks. As per norms, a 20-foot-wide stretch should be laid for two-wheelers to safely navigate down the hillock. The spatial survey will study the number of culverts required; the length and width of the drains; the number of trees to be uprooted; and the gradient level. The report will be ready in a week. Based on it, a detailed project report for laying the road will be made. Paperwork is also being done by the Forest Department to get the Centre’s approval online.
Hillocks like Pinchamanthai, Alleri, Vazhaipanthal, Pazhamarathukollai, Kalampattu, Jagathankollai, Kurumalai and Thongumalai have more than 100 tribal villages in the Anaicut taluk along the Jawadhu Hills. Of them, only Kurumalai has a proper bitumen road to a distance of 2.5 km, laid at a cost of ₹1.06 crore by DRDA two years ago. A bitumen road is being laid in the Pinchamanthai hillock. DRDA officials said levelling in the Alleri hillock had been done twice since 2022 at a cost of ₹7.50 lakh and ₹5 lakh.
