Ooty: Farm coop seeks action against education department for demolishing a school

Ooty: The Thengumarahada cooperative farming society (TCFS) at Thengumarahada village, the first of its kind in the country, lodged a complaint with police, seeking action against the Education department for demolishing a school building that stands on the society’s land.  

Thengumarahada in the forest in the foothills of the Nilgiris can be reached only via Coimbatore and Erode districts.  This was where the famed Tamil film ‘Annakili’ was shot where maestro Ilayaraja made his debut. Now, it is part of the Nilgiris north forest division and also a buffer zone of the Mudumalai tiger reserve for its connectivity with Mudumalai.  Nearly 500 acres of forestland assigned to the TCFS about five decades ago is the basis of livelihood of nearly 500 families, mostly farmhands and some tribals, who have settled there over the decades.

Barring a government middle school, other modern infrastructure is lacking due to stringent forest laws binding the area. The Education department entered into confrontation with the cooperative’s administration over the school building issue here. The TCFS approached the SP of Nilgiris to initiate action against the education department.

The TCFS sources said that five years ago the Education department wanted to construct new buildings for the school at a separate place, but the Forest department did not give permission, citing forest laws binding the area. The education department sought permission from the TCFS to demolish and re-construct the existing building as the school building stands on its land.

Though the TCFS accorded permission in 2011, the Education department failed to act then. “Now, the Education department has begun to demolish buildings in the school without permission from the TCFS and shifted materials that belong to the TCFS,” sources said.

Mr.B.K.Kumaran, president of the Nilgiris Ecology and Animals Protection Samithi said that nearly 475 families out of 500-odd families living in Thengumarahada have already opted for re-location. At this stage, spending huge amounts for construction is absurd.  Government should speed up the relocation process, he added.