Villagers seek roads to prevent closure of school with one student at Erode hamlet

With migration continuing unabated due to the absence of a motorable road and electricity, the Panchayat Union Middle School at Malliamman Durgham, a remote hamlet deep inside the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in the Kadambur Hills, is facing the threat of closure, as it currently has only one student, a Class IV boy, and a teacher.

A report titled ‘As families migrate, Erode hamlet without roads or power left with only one student,’ was published in The Hindu dated July 22, 2025. Following this, education department officials, including two Block Educational Officers from Gobichettipalayam and six members from the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) visited the village on Thursday (July 24).

Plea to residents

After an arduous journey in a pickup van through steep, rocky gradients for two-and-a-half hours, they reached the remote hamlet and met the residents. The team urged residents to admit their children in the school to prevent its closure.

However, the villagers reiterated their long-standing demand for a motorable road, stating that without it, most families had been forced to migrate to the plains in search of better livelihood and educational opportunities.

According to the officials, although there are more than 80 houses in the village, lesser than 30 families currently reside there, with most of them aged over 45 years. Of the 159 families that originally lived in the hamlet, nearly two-thirds have moved out.

Residents said they have been demanding a road for over 30 years, as the lack of connectivity severely hampers access to medical care, ration supplies and daily essentials. Highlighting their hardship, they said the inability to travel is forcing families to relocate.

The village also remains off the power grid, with no electricity, leaving the residents in darkness. While officials continue to push for local school enrolment, the villagers maintain that road connectivity must be made first if the community is to survive and grow. The officials who visited them assured to take up the matter with the District Collector for necessary action to facilitate road access.