CPI(M) Tamil Nadu secretary P. Shanmugam and party members submitting a petition to Nilgiris district Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru to fulfill the demands of Gudalur residents.
| Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) submitted a petition to the Nilgiris district Collector on Monday, demanding basic amenities such as electricity for the residents of Gudalur.
The CPI(M)’s Tamil Nadu Secretary, P. Shanmugam said that people in Gudalur were facing land issues. He said that the Gudalur Janmam Estates (Abolition and Conversion) of Ryotwari Act, 1969 was passed resulting in the government attempting to take possession of more than 80,000 acres of land in Gudalur.
He said that currently, around 10,052 farmers are residing in around 34,986 acres of land, which is pending settlement. As these farmers were residing in land without pattas, they were denied access to basic amenities such as electricity, water and even toilets, said Mr. Shanmugam.
The CPI(M) demanded that pattas be issued to the farmers, and also to seize large estates from the holders and redistribute the land to poor residents.
“More than 10,000 families in the district are still living in slums, denied basic amenities including electricity due to the lack of land title. The government should take steps to provide electricity connection to the house of those who have all the proofs (except the title deed) like house number, Aadhaar card, election card and ration card. The government should ensure that officials issue no-objection certificates for electricity connections without any corruption or bias,” they demanded.
The CPI(M) also demanded that the government take immediate steps to prevent wild animals from straying outside the forests and into human settlements.
They said that compensation for a loss of life should be increased to ₹ 1 crore and that a member of the deceased person’s family be offered a government job.
Published – December 15, 2025 07:13 pm IST
