With the Assembly poll date fast nearing, tribal hamlets at Kuttampuzha in Kothamangalam constituency are getting unusual number of visitors in the form of candidates and their campaign teams.
Development has largely evaded the area, what with people there complaining of no hospital with facility for inpatient treatment available anywhere nearby, even as traditional systems of treatment are thinning down. Moreover, electricity has not yet reached a locality, although Ernakulam is often projected as a district which achieved 100% electrification.
The tribal hamlet has 17 colonies, while title deeds have not been handed over to 67 families who were relocated to Pantapra colony off Pooyamkutty road. “We were living in Varium, where I cultivated coconut, rubber, pepper, and arecanut, when then government allotted two acres and possession certificate to each family a decade ago. We are unable to cut trees in the (forest) land allotted to us and cultivate any crops, since we have not been given title deeds,” said Rajagopal of the colony, pointing to the largely-barren tracts of land around houses made of bamboo.
“Even worse, the so-called civilised people refuse to even accept us as human beings. They discriminate against us and our children and refuse to offer them admission in colleges, in violation of ST quota norms,” he added.
The threat from wild animals, including elephants, pigs, and venomous snakes, is another concern, despite efforts by the government to erect electrified fences.
Former president of Kuttampuzha panchayat C.J. Eldhose said successive governments had turned a blind eye to construction of an approximately 110-metre-long bridge at Blavana, which would considerably help establish road connectivity to many tribal villages in the area.