Every time she has to go to the village office at Kodumon in Pathanamthitta, Lakshmikutty, 80, takes her 10-year-old granddaughter along with her. It's difficult for her to climb the steep ascent to the office perched on a hilltop. "I am an arthritis patient and after every visit to the village office I remain indoors for a week because of the knee pain and numb limbs. This has been the routine ever since the new village office was built there three years ago," she says. "Climbing up is a nightmare and coming down is worse still," she adds. There are hundreds of people like Lakshmikkutty in the village who curse themselves whenever they are faced with a need to go to the village office.

Reaching the village office in Kodumon is an uphill task as the office is located at an elevated place. A small stretch that branches away from Ezhamkulam-Kaipattur road leads to the office. It’s a path riddled with pits and potholes. Both the employees at the office and locals seeking service have a hard time climbing all the way up the hilly terrain and down. It's the aged and ailing who suffer the most.

Village Officer Sreelal K B told Onmanorama that the plan to build a proper road was finalised years ago when the new village office building was commissioned in 2022. "There is a limit to what a village officer can do about this, as at the most what he or she can do is submit a report conveying the need for a road before the Tehsildar, who in turn will send it to the PWD,” he said.

The authorities said that a heap of soil on the path is the main obstacle. "The road can be constructed only if the soil lying on the path is removed. Since it's on the revenue land, the Collector's permission is needed, which can be sought only after the approval of the Geological Department," Sreelal said. All the same, the long-winding procedures have left the residents of Kodumon in misery and hardship.

Meanwhile, A G Sreekumar, member, Kodumon Grama Panchayat, stated that the required formalities towards constructing the road have already been fulfilled. "The removal of the earth has been sanctioned by the Department of Mining and Geology and the Collector has given permission for the road construction. We now await conclusion of tender procedures for removing the earth," he said.