With no road, Edamalakkudy man carried on bamboo stretcher for 10 km via dense forest to hospital
The lack of proper road connectivity to Kerala’s first tribal panchayat of Edamalakkudy in Idukki district has come to the fore once again as a
The lack of proper road connectivity to Kerala’s first tribal panchayat of Edamalakkudy in Idukki district has come to the fore once again as a 75-year-old patient from the settlement had to be carried on a makeshift stretcher through dense forest for roughly 10 km to Mankulam, the nearest town, before being admitted to the Adimaly Taluk Hospital. According to residents, Malayappan has been down with fever for several days. On Wednesday morning (August 12, 2026), as his condition worsened, he had to be shifted to the hospital.
“Due to the absence of proper road connectivity, we made a bamboo stretcher and carried him through deep forest,” a resident of the settlement said. Last year too, the settlement witnessed two similar incidents. On August 21, 2025, a five-year-old boy, Karthik, of Koodallarkudy, another settlement in the panchayat, who contracted fever, had to transported to the hospital in a similar fashion. But the boy did not survive the trip to the Mankulam hospital. The next day, the bereaved family members had to carry the child’s body back to the settlement through the same path.
In September 2025, Karthik’s grandmother, Rajakanni, too contacted fever and was carried to Mankulam on a bamboo stretcher. Following the incidents, residents had demanded that a road connecting Anakkulam, near Mankulam, with Koodallarkudy be built. Villagers had said that a 4-km road along this route would connect their settlement to emergency care. However, one year later, the road remains unbuilt, making the residents dependent on such improvised devices carried by their family members and friends. Munnar Range Officer S. Biju said the Forest department has requested a revised estimate for the road construction.
“Earlier, they submitted an application without proper details,” Mr. Biju said. “Once we receive the detailed estimate, the Munnar Forest Division will issue the permit within days.” Sources said the proposed Koodallarkudy-Anakkulam road passes through three forest divisions—Munnar, Mankulam, and Malayattoor. For the project to get going, all three divisions should issue permits.
The BriefWire