Periannanpatti near Gudiyattam struggles sans road for decades
While some attention was given to villages whose road-less status was prominently highlighted in the media, many other villages need such basic infrastructure.
Periannanpatti residents, one seen with a cylinder on head, thank officials (not seen) who came to provide polio drops
VELLORE: Hamlets in the Vellore district hit headlines sometime back due to deaths caused by delays in reaching healthcare facilities in the absence of proper roads.
While some attention was given to villages whose road-less status was prominently highlighted in the media, many other villages need such basic infrastructure.
One such village is Periannanpatti, which has 40-odd families, coming under DP Palayam panchayat about 18 km from Gudiyattam. This has been the condition of our village for three generations, some residents said.
“Despite submitting umpteen petitions to various revenue and panchayat union officials, no action has been initiated to date. As the village backs onto forest land, access for them is through a 1-km-long path that abuts patta lands. Though most of the owners of the lands at the entrance and the end of the stretch are willing to lay a mud road, one person, who owns a patch in the middle is not ready to open 20 metres, which is needed to complete the road,” said VCK land retrieval committee district coordinator S Munirathinam.
“Children are forced to walk one km abutting forests to a proper road and take buses to reach their schools,” said Sulochana, a resident of the village.
“But what worries both the students and parents is the homeward journey, as sometimes if children get late, they will have to walk in the night facing the threat of wild animals,” parents said.
Another routine problem every month is the LPG cylinder delivery. The gas-filled bottles are offloaded on the main road from where consumers have to carry them as headloads to their houses, Munirathinam said.
“What is more galling is that lack of road facility has resulted in those with children of marriageable age being unable to get grooms or brides due to lack of infrastructure,” said Inbavalli, a housewife.
“Even if local girls succeed in getting married, the groom’s side does not send them home for delivery for this reason,” Munirathinam added. Asked about this, a Vellore district administration official said this was the first time they had heard about the plight of Periannanpatti and assured to look into the issue at the earliest.