Ground report: Peechi forest dwellers' poll booth is nearby, but they have to travel 25km to reach panchayat office

The residents face difficulties of being part of a large panchayat. They have to travel 25km to reach the panchayat headquarters.

Eighty voters in Olakara tribal colony inside Peechi forest will cast their ballot in the local body election at a polling booth near their hamlet today.

They have to walk just two kilometres to reach the polling station set up at a forest department building.

“We thank the Election Commission for establishing the polling station. But this has not reduced our pain. For, we have to travel 25 kilometres to reach our gram panchayat office,” said the woman tribal chief at the colony, Madhavi.

Olakara is one of the three human settlements inside Kerala’s Peechi forest. Pathrakkandam and Kaithakkal Uravu are the other two settlements. The booth has a total of 180 registered voters. Local body polls in Thrissur district are being held today.

The settlements - which lie at one end of the Peechi dam - come under Ward No. 7 (Vaniyampara) of the Pananchery panchayat in Thrissur district.

The residents face difficulties of being part of a large panchayat. They have to travel 25km to reach the panchayat headquarters. In the process, they will pass through three panchayats - Kannambra, Vadakkenchery and Kizhakkanchery - in the neighbouring Palakkad district.

A view of the Peechi dam in Thrissur district. Photo: TA Ameerudheen

Local body election

The time taken to reach the settlements gave candidates tough time while canvassing votes for the local body elections.

United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Jaseena Noushad said she visited the settlements four times during her campaign.

Political party workers visit voters’ houses in Pathrakkandam settlement inside Peechi forest during the local body election campaign. The area comes under Ward No. 7 of the Pananchery gram panchayat in Thrissur district. Photo: TA Ameerudheen

“Vaniyampara is the largest Ward in the panchayat. It is tough to travel to Olakara, Pathrakkandam and Kaithakkal Uravu settlements inside Peechi forest. But the local people supported me well,” she said.

Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Subaida Aboobaker echoed her opponent. “Whenever I visited the settlements, I would spend the whole day with the voters. But reaching the place was difficult,” she said.

Subaida’s husband and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Aboobaker had represented the ward from 2015 to 2020.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Lathika Anil faced a different issue during her campaign. Hailing from a tribal hamlet in Olakara, she had a tough time reaching out to the voters on the other side of the ward. “The other side – Vaniyampara – is far away for me,” she said.

Vaniyampara and the Olakara settlement are separated by more than 15 kilometres.

Difficulties

People said they have to set out early in the morning if they have to collect certificates from the panchayat office.

A view of the Peechi forest in Thrissur district. Photo: TA Ameerudheen

“We have to walk five kilometres to reach the bus stop. Then we have to change buses twice to reach the office in Pattikkad. It is exhausting both physically and mentally,” said 40-year-old Shiju.

Shiju said residents are afraid of going out early these days for fear of wild elephants. “We live inside the Peechi forest. Wild elephants cross our settlements often. Hence we are afraid of going out even during the day,” he said.

Madhavi said hiring an auto rickshaw during an emergency would cut a deep hole in people’s pockets.

A warning sign board indicating wild elephant crossing inside the Peechi forest in Thrissur district. Residents of Olakara, Pathrakkandam and Kaithakkal Uravu say wild elephant crossings have restricted their movements. Photo - TA Ameerudheen

She recently took an autorickshaw to reach the panchayat office in an emergency. “I paid Rs 750 for the trip,” she said.

Adivasi land agitation

Madhavi said Adivasis in all the tribal hamlets have been demanding right to five acres of land for the past 18 years.

“We started the agitation in 2002. The governments headed by both LDF and UDF have ignored us,” she said.

Woman tribal chief at Olakara colony, Madhavi, says Adivasis will continue their agitation until the government heeds their demand for five acres of land. Photo: TA Ameerudheen

The latest round of agitation was started on November 25, 2020. It has been put on hold following requests from the Thrissur district collector. “The collector asked us to put the agitation on hold in view of the local body polls. We will wait for a few more days after the elections for a favourable reply. Else, we will resume our fight,”Madhavi said.

More than 150 people from the Malaya Adivasi tribe live in Madhavi’s Olakara hamlet.

Of this, 10 families neither have land nor homes. They encroached forest land and built temporary shelters with tarpaulin sheets. “I am also living in the encroached land. This is our land. Government should give us the right to live here,” Madhavi said.

Woman tribal chief at Olakara colony, Madhavi, has encroached the forest land and built a hut with tarpaulin sheets. “I have been living here for the last two years,” she says. Photo: TA Ameerudheen

She said the agitation will continue till the government heeds the Adivasis. “We don’t have any other option,” she said.

Merger discussions

Many residents felt that the travel burden could have lessened had the settlements been merged with the Kizhakkanchery panchayat in Palakkad district.

“Kizhakkanchery lies less than one kilometre away from the settlements. Merging with it is ideal for administrative purposes,” said Shiju.

Talks of a merger were in the air a few years ago, but it faded after Adivasis raised objections.

“We do not want our place to be merged with Palakkad. We want to remain in the Peechi forest as part of Pananchery panchayat,” said Madhavi.

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