The State Human Rights Commission has directed the Scheduled Tribes Development department (STDD) to inform the commission within a month about the progress of the proposed concrete bridge across the Chaliyar river connecting the marooned tribal hamlets of Kumbalappara, Tharippapotti, Vaniyampuzha and Iruttukuthi in Pothukal panchayat near Nilambur.
Last month, the commission had ordered that the STDD construct a concrete bridge for the 100-odd tribal families living in the four hamlets across the Chaliyar. The tribal families were marooned since the floods of 2018 destroyed two bridges connecting the hamlets with the mainland at Munderi.
Although the Revenue department led by the then District Collector Jaffar Malik had constructed a hanging bridge by collecting funds from their colleagues, the floods of 2019 also destroyed that structure.
Different government departments were engaged in a blame game as the tribes-people continued to appeal for a bridge since then. They were risking their lives by depending on bamboo rafts to cross the river, especially during the monsoon.
Human Rights Commission member K. Baijunath directed the STDD director to furnish a report about the progress of the construction of the bridge within a month.
