Rain fills three rivers to the brim, cuts off tribal hamlets

Tirupur: Rising water at the confluence of Thennar, Chinnar and Pambar rivers after the strengthening of the southwest monsoon has stranded hundreds of residents of four hilly hamlets in Udumalpet taluk.
The people, belonging to scheduled tribes Muthuvan and Malasar, and scheduled caste Pulaiyar, are living in Thalinchi, Thalinchi Vayal, Keezhavayal and Manjampatti hamlets in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve. Most of them are farmers, who cultivate paddy and beans. Children from the villages attend schools.
The villagers have to cross Koottar and reach Chinnar village to travel to Udumalpet and Maraiyur in Kerala. Apart from buying daily provisions, they depend on the two towns for selling their produces and for medical needs.
The villagers use a small bridge set up by the forest department to cross Koottar until the monsoon sets in, submerging the bridge. Their other option is to use a four-feet wide bridge across Pambar in Sambakkadu in Kerala. But only two-wheeler riders can use the bridge. Sometimes, Kerala forest department would restrict traffic through the bridge.
“As the three rivers brim with water, the villagers are cut off from the outside world once the monsoon sets in. The situation continues till December, which means they are denied proper transport for half of the year. They would be stranded and not able to take produces to the market or even meet daily needs,” said district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Tribes Association G Selvan.
“We have been demanding an overbridge at Koottar for more than a decade.”
Permission of the National Tiger Conservation Authority is required to construct an overbridge, a forest department official said.