THENI: Following a report published by TNIE on Friday titled "Students urge CM for bus service from Kottakudi", Theni District Collector Dr R Vaithiyanathan directed officials of the TNSTC to provide bus connectivity to the remote hill village.

Acting on the Collector's instructions, TNSTC operated a trial bus service from Bodinayakanur to Kottakudi on Friday evening. Based on the response, regular bus services are set to commence from Monday.

Speaking to TNIE, R Kannan, a resident of Kottakudi, expressed gratitude to TNIE for consistently highlighting the village's long-pending demand for bus connectivity. "This is the first time our village is getting a direct bus service. Until now, we had to walk nearly 2 km to reach the Kurangani junction to board a bus and walk the same distance again while returning. This has been a year-long struggle for the villagers, and I am happy that the issue has finally been resolved in my generation," he said.

Earlier, during the election period, TNIE visited the village and featured the residents' grievances on its Poll Wall page under the headline, "Kurangani hill villagers threaten poll boycott as neglect and lack of roads persist in TN's Theni." The report drew attention to the lack of basic infrastructure and public transport facilities in the hill region.

Speaking to TNIE, a senior TNSTC official said they have been asked by the Chief Minister's Office through the Collector after TNIE published the news. TNSTC officials thereafter inspected the route. During the inspection, they found that the hill road between Kottakudi junction and Kottakudi village is narrow, making it unsuitable for the larger 210WB bus currently operating on the Kurangani route.

"To assess the feasibility of providing direct connectivity, a smaller 176WB bus was operated to Kottakudi village on a trial basis on Friday evening. The trial run was found to be successful. However, it is essential to widen the road," he said.

"At present, 048A operates between Bodinayakanur Bus Stand and Kurangani, with services running at 5.30 am, 7.50 am, 11.15 am, 2.30 pm, 4.10 pm and 5.30 pm. The move is expected to improve transportation access for school students, daily commuters and residents of the remote hill village," he added.

This story has been written by Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam.