All Kuttampuzha people want is a bridge

POOYAMKUTTY: Monsoon hits Kuttampuzha’s tribal hamlets hard as the locality gets cut off from the mainland, leaving the lives of more than 500 families residing at one side of the Pooyamkutty river, in turmoil.The government is yet to come up with a solution to the woes of the tribal communities, who have been asking for a bridge for long.Seventeen tribal colonies are situated across the Kuttampuzha panchayat and most of them are located inside the dense forest region on the other side of Pooyamkutty river. Development activities hardly happen here mainly due to connectivity issues and the Forest Department’s strict norms. There are only two access points to these tribal colonies -- a ferry from Blavana and a small bridge at Pooyamkutty.

Life becomes tough for them when the river overflows.

“The ferry at Blavana has been stopped for two weeks now,” Kuttampuzha native Rajan said.
“There’s a small boat which can take people to the other side of the river, but it is not allowed to use that either due to safety issues, with water level remaining high. We’ve been asking for a bridge at Blavana for more than a decade. Ministers and politicians visit the tribal village and make promises every time, but nothing has been done to construct a bridge.” The authorities shouldn’t wait for a tragedy to happen in order to take an action, he said.

Benny, another resident of the place, said tribal people have to walk several kilometres to reach their colonies. Similarly, wild-animal attacks are frequent in the area.“We oar people to the other side of the river in case of an emergency situation. However, controlling the boat in time of strong undercurrents is not an easy task,” said Benny.The vehicle route to reach the tribal colonies is through Pooyamkutty where a low-lying path is constructed.

“The path gets submerged after rain as the water level rises up to six feet. The vehicle may be washed off in strong currents. The path has been submerged for the past one week,” said another resident Ajesh P Rajesh.Kuttampuzha panchayat vice-president K K Baiju said, “Electricity Minister M M Mani visited the tribal colonies on the other side of the river and promised to provide electricity and solve connectivity issues by constructing a bridge. ‘‘A resolution was passed by the panchayat for the same. The estimated cost is `1. The proposal has been submitted to the government.”