Tribal colony sans provisions for a month

Kottayam: The 2,246-member Muthuvan tribal community of the Edamalakudy panchayat in Idukki were not getting provisions for the past one month.

Incessant rains were preventing the movement of rice and wheat from the godown at Pettimudy to the two ration shops in the tribal panchayat.

Headload workers used to carry grains to the tribal hamlets of Societykudy and Paraprayarkudy walking all the 14 km, which has now become impossible. The provisions will be brought to the civil supplies godown at Pattimudy in jeeps, but there are no roads beyond that in the forests.

Each family gets 30 kg of free rice and 4 kg of wheat a month. They will also get 4 litres of kerosene by at Rs 22 a litre.

The families of the Muthuvan tribe including small children survive on them, and they now depend on their stocks at home which could soon exhaust.

The rains also prevent them from going out to work or farming.  

“Since the rain is heavy, people are finding it hard to carry provisions on their heads. The rivers are in full spate,” said P.K. Muralidharan, the instructor at the single-teacher school there.

There are 630 Muthuvan families in the 26 hamlets. Devikulam MLA S. Rajendran asked the forest officials to make necessary arrangements to ensure supplies.

“Ten tribal promoters were asked to carry provisions to the concerned hamlets,” he told DC.

The tribals are also finding it difficult to get medical treatment at the time of the rains as the primary sub-centre at Societykudy has only two male nurses with inadequate medicines and facilities.

The nearest hospital is a private one in Munnar 42 km away where they have to carry patients on shoulders for 14 km. The nearest government hospital is at Adimali, 78 km away.