Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2026: Tribal villagers in Gundri await roads, power and healthcare

Erode: Nestled amid the forested hills of Kadambur in Erode district, Gundri village panchayat is home to thousands of tribal families. Most depend on millet cultivation and forest produce to sustain their livelihoods.

For decades, daily life here has been shaped by rugged terrain, poor connectivity and limited infrastructure.

With Assembly elections nearing, villagers hope that long-standing demands, better roads, healthcare facilities and reliable electricity, will finally receive attention.

Internal roads, last fully laid more than ten years ago, have deteriorated into gravel stretches with only sporadic repairs. Public transport remains scarce, with just one bus operating daily, leaving residents dependent on private vehicles—even during medical emergencies.

According to Lakshmi, a tribal woman farmer, "We need houses, roads and more. Our roads are bad. There are only gravel roads here."

Meanwhile, Maria Glory, a self-help group representative, says, "We need a primary health centre here. We need roads also. If we need to go to a hospital nearby, it takes more than one hour. There are no frequent buses, too."

Inadequate infrastructure has also taken a toll on education. Children from interior hamlets walk long distances through forest paths to attend the only school serving the area.

Agriculture, the backbone of the local economy, faces its own set of challenges. Farmers point to erratic power supply, frequent outages and recurring wildlife intrusion as major obstacles.

A farmer named Murugan says, "We need roads, that's our main problem. There is also an electricity problem, there are power cuts three days a week. Probably, there are more power cuts here because trees fall. If the electricity is cut frequently, how will we water our fields and do agriculture?"

Another farmer, Nagmari, said, "Electricity is one. Wild animals is another. Since this area is in a forest area, animal intrusion into fields is there. Elephants and wild boars come into our area. Water is not a problem but electricity is. There is shortage in electricity supply.*

Until recently, even processing farm produce posed difficulties. With no nearby facilities, women had to travel long distances to grind millets, increasing both effort and cost.

The introduction of a mobile, solar-powered millet processing unit has offered some relief. The unit enables on-site cleaning and grinding, significantly reducing physical strain and travel time.

Lakshmi, a tribal woman farmer, further adds that "earlier, we had to travel very far to grind our grains." Now, with the machine coming here, our work has become much easier.”

Meanwhile, Maria Glory, self-help group representative, added that "earlier, without this machinery, we travelled long distances. Now the machine comes here, and everything becomes easier. What we really need are proper roads and a primary health centre.”

The district administration claims that measures are being taken to improve the infrastructure, citing plans for a permanent health centre, drinking water supply, and housing schemes. With the exception of areas inside the reserve forest, officials insist that the majority of the roads are usable.

Residents of Gundri say they are still waiting as election season draws near, for progress that surpasses promises and materialises on the ground.