Give us motorable road: Sitheri residents to Tamil Nadu govt

DHARMAPURI: Residents of Arasantham in Sitheri panchayat urged the administration to pave a proper road as they have to trek for almost 8 km to Sitheri for their basic needs, including medical care. Arasanatham in Sitheri panchayat is one of the remote tribal hamlets in the district.

It has a population of around 150 families, most of whom have agriculture as primary employment. The village is located almost 8 km away from Sitheri, where the nearest Primary Health Centre, Panchayat office and even the Government Higher Secondary School is present. The residents have to trek for nearly 8 km via forest area to avail of the services.

K Venkateshan, a resident of Arasanatham said, "Arasanatham is a major village of Sitheri panchayat. Our village lies on a hill adjacent to Sitheri and we cannot travel to the place directly. The shortest route to reach Sitheri is the Harur-Sitheri road, and we have to walk for almost 5km foot pass through the forest to reach there. If the mud road of the forest is converted into a tar road, we can easily reach Sitheri."

Another resident of Sitheri R Sridar said, "People from over 66 villages come to Sitheri for their basic necessities, including medications and even education. Not only our village, but many other villages also don't have proper road facilities and hence, many villages are isolated. In the past decade many major developments happened in Sitheri, but the surrounding areas still lack proper roads. Farmers have to trek down with agricultural produce and milk and transport it to Harur for selling, which is an arduous task. While some people here use two-wheelers to travel, it becomes difficult during monsoon."

P Kaliappan from Kalasapadi, another village in the panchayat, said, "Even though adults can manage trekking through the hills, school-going children suffer a lot while going to Sitheri. Hence, we need new road for villages surrounding Sitheri."

Revenue officials told TNIE, "We have been focusing on the development of Sitheri, but paving roads is a challenge. A major portion of Sitheri falls under the forest area. Residents have made many appeals and we are also looking for feasible solutions to improve roads and bring in mobile towers. At present, we are looking into upgrading the Harur- Sitheri road."