Tribespeople from Koodallarkudy taking the Anakkulam route in Edamalakkudy.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Lack of road connectivity has claimed one more life in Edamalakkudy, State’s first tribal panchayat in Idukki, this time a 60-year-old woman.
Amruthavally, a resident of Shedukudy, sought treatment at the family health centre at Societykudy for asthma on Tuesday. The doctor there advised her to seek advanced treatment at Adimaly. However, lack of proper road prevented her from seeking treatment immediately and her condition worsened on Wednesday morning and she died.
On Saturday, a five-year-old boy, a resident of the Koodallarkudy tribal settlement, died after failing to reach hospital on time. People were forced to carry the child’s body in a coffin to reach the settlement.
The deaths have renewed calls for a proper road facility to the panchayat. The tribespeople are demanding a new road from Anakkulam at Mankulam to their settlement.
After the death of the boy, the Munnar tribal extension officer had visited the Koodallarkudy settlement and the residents submitted a memorandum stating the demand.
“The Koodallarkudy settlement is home to 22 tribal families. A road from Anakkulam will facilitate easy access to Mankulam and Adimaly. Through the Societykudy-Munnar route (which is not motorable now), we need to travel over 80 km to reach hospitals in Adimaly. However, if we have a road through Anakkulam, it will reduce the distance to Adimaly by 40 km,” says Sivakumar, a resident of Koodallarkudy.
“Such a road can be easily reached from 26 of the 22 tribal settlements and be helpful to over 900 people from 300 families in the Edamalakkudy panchayat. To reach Societykudy, we need to travel over 10 km through dense forests. The proposed road will be helpful for us,” he says.
“For the Koodallarkudy residents, the family health centre at Mankulam is the nearest point for medical assistance. They have to walk over four hours through dense forests to reach there, during which they may encounter wild animals,” says Tijo P. Jose, who was the medical officer of Mankulam PHC (now FHC).
“I have visited Koodallarkudy and held vaccination and medical camps there and experienced the difficulties they face in obtaining basic needs. The situation becomes dire during the monsoon season,” says Dr. Jose.
According to forest officials, the proposed road falls within the forest areas of the Munnar and Mankulam divisions. “The Divisional Forest Officer can provide one hectare for development activities. Should the project’s user agency needs additional land, it should request permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests on the Parivesh portal,” says an officer.
The construction works on the road connecting Edamalakkudy and Societykudy had remained stalled.
Published – August 28, 2025 09:01 pm IST
