Tamil Nadu: Undeclared lockdown in Gudalur

COIMBATORE: For more than a month, the fear of a prowling tiger has brought life to a standstill at Lauriston Number 4 in O Valley in Gudalur, leaving around 82 families confined to their homes and depriving predominantly daily-wage workers of their source of livelihood.

The restrictions by the forest department, following the deaths of two farmers in suspected tiger attacks in quick succession on August 8 and August 21, have come at a steep cost for the residents.

“We understand the danger, but staying at home for so long means losing our only source of income. We have no savings to fall back on. For our daily food, we manage with groceries, vegetables and other essentials given to us by representatives of political parties, traders’ associations and other welfare organisations following the twin attacks,” said Janaki Jayaram (40), a resident of Lauriston.

Most of the villagers work as farmhands, pluck tea leaves or take up odd jobs to make ends meet. The prolonged confinement has disrupted the lives of children as well. Only over the past two weeks, following repeated appeals from residents, has the forest department begun ferrying school children between their homes and schools, providing some relief to families living under the shadow of the tiger.

Janaki described the situation as being similar to the lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. For her, however, the crisis has been a double blow, as her family was rendered homeless after a wild elephant entered their house the same day when the second suspected tiger attack happened.

“My elderly mother Dhavamani, aged 76, along with my 10-year-old daughter and my two nieces, aged 14 and 16, were fast asleep when a wild elephant broke through the back door and entered our house. The house had a temporary roof, and the elephant emerged through the front door after completely collapsing the structure. Fortunately, they managed to escape. On that day, I was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kerala following surgery,” she said.

Dhavamani, who is the sole breadwinner of the family and works as a caretaker for a baby at a house in Gudalur town, has also been unable to work for the past month because of the restrictions. Janaki herself has been unable to work after undergoing major surgery, while her husband has left the family following differences.

Gudalur Ward 18 councillor Mumtaj said residents were unable to even buy essential commodities from Public Distribution System (PDS) shops located a few kilometres away because of the fear of venturing outside.

“Some arrangements should be made to supply the essentials at their doorstep until the prowling tiger is trapped,” she said.

For Pushpavalli (54) of Manjushree Estate, the tiger attacks have brought an even more personal tragedy. She lost her husband, M Balakrishnan, a daily wage worker, in the first suspected tiger attack on August 8.

“My husband left the house around evening to bring drinking water from a natural spring for our household use, but he did not return. After searching through the night, we were shattered to find his partially consumed remains the next morning,” she said.

Her three sons live elsewhere and work odd jobs, while Pushpavalli herself worked as a tea plucker at an estate.

“Initially, I had doubts whether the animal that killed my husband was a tiger. But my son and brother spotted a tiger consuming the body of a person during the second attack, which happened just a short distance from our house. The villagers gathered and scared it away by shouting,” she said.

It had been more than two decades since villagers had last sighted a tiger in their neighbourhood. “Our entire village has now been confined to our homes. It is really difficult to live like this,” Pushpavalli added.

K Sahadevan, vice-chairman of ‘O’ Valley Panchayat, said residents had sighted the tiger twice in the locality even after the two attacks — once on a road and again in an area barely a kilometre away.

“If the capture efforts do not work out, a special task force should be formed to gun down the tiger to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the people. If there is a further delay even after losing two precious lives, we will decide our next course of action and take up protests,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shaji Chelivayal, president of the Federation of Small Tea Growers Association (FESTA), urged the State government to provide financial assistance to families who have been deprived of work for nearly a month.

“These families belong to the lower strata of society. Each family should be given at least Rs 10,000 as compensation. Besides losing their livelihood, many families also have debts and need to pay interest. In the long run, these people should also be provided with permanent concrete houses, as most of them live in structures with asbestos roofing and also lack electricity supply,” he said.

The prolonged absence of workers is also affecting the sprawling estates. “The tea and coffee plantations have become overgrown with bushes because workers have been unable to report for duty, while tea leaves have gone unplucked,” Shaji added.

TIMELINE

August 8: M Balakrishnan was killed in a suspected tiger attack in O’ Valley

August 21: Ravichandran was killed in a tiger attack in O’ Valley

August 27: Traders in Gudalur observed a 48-hour shutdown, demanding the capture of the tiger

August 28: Two kumki elephants from the Mudumalai elephant camp were deployed to assist in the tiger-tracking operation

September 9: A leopard was caught in a cage set up to capture the tiger

September 11: Forest Minister RV Ranjith Kumar met the bereaved families and assured necessary action

September 13: The search operation entered its 24th day, but the tiger remained untraced