Tribal residents of Talamalai in Erode stage road roko demanding operation of bus

Condemning the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) for not operating bus to Thadasalatti and Ittarai hamlets in Talamalai Panchayat citing poor road condition, the residents staged a road roko at Bejalatti in Erode on Monday. 

Condemning the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) for not operating bus to Thadasalatti and Ittarai hamlets in Talamalai Panchayat citing poor road condition, the residents staged a road roko at Bejalatti in Erode on Monday. 

A TNSTC bus departs from Sathyamangalam bus stand at 6 a.m. and passes through Dhimbam, Bejalatti and takes an 8 km separate road to reach Thadasalatti and Ittarai. The bus again returns to Bejalatti and proceeds towards Talavadi. Both Thadasalatti and Ittarai hamlets are located inside the dense forest of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and the bus is the only available mode of transportation for the 40 students and workers to reach Talavadi or Sathyamangalam. However , citing poor road condition, the bus skipped the two hamlets in the last three months and proceeded directly from Bejalatti to Talavadi. This move of the TNSTC has put the students and workers into untold hardship. 

On Monday morning, when the bus reached Bejalatti, people from the two hamlets along with their children blocked the road.  

The protest was led by R. Arulsamy, Talavadi Union secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI). After the officials assured the protesters that the bus would be operated to the two hamlets, the protest was withdrawn.