After no government response for a long time, labour colony residents in Kudremukh repair road themselves

Long years of waiting for a road repair have ended as residents of Vinoba Nagar in Kudremukh, Chikkamagaluru, have taken up the work on their own. Contributing funds for materials from their own pockets, workers of the labour colony laid the road on December 1, putting an end to a decades-old ordeal.

The last time the road — which is about 200 metres and connects the workers’ colony to the Aiyappa Temple in the village — was asphalted was more than 30 years ago when the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) was still active. The company stopped its activities following the Supreme Court’s directive in 2005. This hit hard, as the majority of residents in the colony were migrants from distant places who had come to work for the company for daily wages.

While regularised employees of the company were transferred to different units, contract labourers lost their source of income. They remained in the colony and decided to take up whatever jobs came their way. Of the 170 families in the colony, many have been working in plantations and construction sites. A few have shifted to nearby places in search of a living. They have had no electricity supply all these years.

Vikram Kudremukh, a documentary filmmaker and native of Vinoba Nagar, told The Hindu that the residents of the colony decided to lay the road using their money, as repeated appeals to elected representatives and officers did not yield any response. “The work involving 40 people began on the morning of December 1 and continued till late in the night. We have laid a concrete road by using 70 bags of cement, besides other materials. The total expenditure is above ₹1.5 lakh. This happened because of the generous contributions from local people,” he said.

Residents recalled facing difficulties for all these years in getting autorickshaws to their colony owing to the patchy road. The youth hesitated to carry the elderly as pillion riders, as the potholes posed a risk to them. It was also difficult to take patients and pregnant women to hospitals.

Rajamma, a resident, said that the youth in the colony contributed from their pockets to improve the road. “They are all working hard in plantations. They contributed to the road. We are all happy with their gesture,” she expressed.

“We have no electricity supply, no proper road, and no regular supply of drinking water. The elected representatives just want our votes but are not interested in providing us with any services,” said Doreraju, also a resident.

Here are links to previous stories on the issue:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/pandemic-pushes-this-labour-colony-to-the-brink/article32165873.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/lack-of-transport-basic-amenities-and-fear-of-displacement-still-bother-people-in-naxal-affected-areas/article68893810.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/a-film-on-woes-of-a-labour-colony-by-a-resident/article24938671.ece