Following the submission of a petition to the District Collector by the residents of villages surrounding Kokkal in Sholur, demanding bus service to their village, Adivasi residents of Kokkal submitted a counter-petition on Tuesday (June 16), stating that they will not allow “outsiders” to board buses from their village.

The incident first came to light on Monday after the residents of Kannerimukku, Thubagandi, Selakkal, Sholur Estate and Kallundi submitted a petition alleging that the Adivasi residents of Kokkal, a Kota village, are preventing them from boarding buses at the village. They are alleged to have told the villagers that the bus that starts from the village is only to be used by the Kota residents at the boarding point.

As a result, the residents of the non-tribal villages wanted a bus service to be introduced to Kannerimukku. Following this, members of the Kota tribal community from the Kokkal village staged a protest in front of the Collector’s office, demanding separate buses and stating that non-tribals will not be allowed to enter the village, citing concerns over their culture and traditions. They instead wanted arrangements to be made for the residents of other villages to board the bus from a different bus stop.

The incident led to the Udhagamandalam tahsildar having to intervene and hold discussions with the protesters. He informed that the discussions would be held with the Regional Transport Office and that a solution would be found. Since there was a possibility of law-and-order problems arising from the dispute over the operation of government bus services to the villages, a solution could be achieved by the Transport Corporation operating separate government buses for the Kokkal and Kannerimukku areas, the villagers said.

This is the second such incident in the last few years where members of local communities have objected to others using bus services from their village.