Muthalamada, Palakkad: The election authorities have apparently ignored a long-standing demand of the residents of Pooppara tribal colony in Parambikulam for setting up a convenient polling booth this time too. During every election, the voters belonging to the Muthuvan tribe of Pooppara face an ordeal before exercising their franchise.
An ancient tribe, the Muthuvans live in the deep forest 14 km from Parambikulam in Palakkad district. They have been demanding a polling booth in their colony for years and the Revenue Department had submitted a favourable report in this regard. However, the report was not considered citing the lack of security in a polling booth inside the forest and possible threat to election officials on duty there.
At present, around 100 voters in the colony have to walk three hours through dense forest to reach their polling booth, Parambikulam 4, at Tiger Hall. Another option is to row a ‘pondi’ (a raft made of bamboo) along the reservoir of the Parambikulam dam for one-and-a-half hours. Pooppara colony is part of the ward 11, Parambikulam, under Muthalamada panchayat.
Considering the hassles of reaching the polling booth, few women, elderly people and sick persons belonging to the tribal settlement cast their votes during elections.
