Away from poll glitz, Adivasis of Anamalai hills fight for survival

Adivasis in Anamalai hills face survival challenges, lacking basic services and political attention amid Tamil Nadu's election preparations.

Wilson Thomas

While Tamil Nadu gears up for yet another Assembly election, a seven-km-long trek through the forest continues to be the routine for 24 families of the Mudhuvar tribe — residing in Paramankadavu settlement near Valparai in Coimbatore — to access the nearest motorable road at Nallamudi.

This is not an isolated case — Paramankadavu and 30-odd tribal settlements in the Anamalai hills, spread across Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts, lack electricity and tar-topped roads. “Since there is no road, seven children from the settlements study in the Government Tribal Residential School in Valparai. If anyone falls sick or a pregnant woman needs to be taken to the hospital, we carry them in makeshift stretchers to Nallamudi,” said M. Kannan, Mudhuvar leader from Paramankadavu.Nedungundran, a Kadar tribal settlement, has proper road connectivity and electricity, he added.

Kadar, Muthuvar, Malasar, Malai Malasar, Eravalar and Pulaiyar are early inhabitants of the landscape. Residents of these communities say hardly any politician visits their settlements even to seek votes or enquire about their grievances.

G. Chinnappan, a Pulaiyar leader from Kattupatti tribal settlement on the Tiruppur side of Anamalai hills, said children from seven settlements of his community too, were made to study in the Valparai school due to lack of proper roads. “Seven of our settlements and some Mudhuvar settlements depend on a 19-km-long mud road to Upper Aliyar to access the outside world. Though we live in Tiruppur district, we are forced to travel to Valparai in Coimbatore district for most of our needs,” he said.

While Pulaiyar is classified as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in neighbouring Kerala, it is a Scheduled Caste community in Tamil Nadu. “Our appeal is to bring the community under the ST category,” he said. According to Mr. Chinnappan, they too face struggles, including delays in obtaining Aadhaar Card, birth certificate, and other documents.