Tue Feb 25 17:44:12 UTC 2025: ## Tribal Man Dies After Difficult Journey Down Mountain Due to Lack of Roads
**TIRUPATTUR, February 26, 2025** – A 60-year-old tribal man died en route to a hospital after a difficult journey down the Neknamalai Hills near Vaniyambadi town in Tirupattur district. S. Govindan, an agricultural worker, suffered a cardiac event on Sunday evening. Due to the lack of proper roads, a group of young villagers had to transport him on a two-wheeler for seven kilometers down the rocky terrain. He succumbed to his condition before reaching the private hospital in Vaniyambadi.
Residents of the remote hamlet, situated in the Eastern Ghats, highlighted the persistent lack of infrastructure. They explained that they routinely transport the sick and pregnant women on makeshift bamboo stretchers to the government hospital, a 10-kilometer journey. A Public Distribution System (PDS) outlet was only recently established in the hills last June.
The existing path, dating back to 1910, is a legacy of British-era forest monitoring and has remained unrepaired. Villagers used hand-held torches to carry Govindan’s body back uphill for the last rites. The incident underscores the urgent need for road infrastructure to improve healthcare access in the isolated tribal community.
First Piper 