Due to lack of roads, a 60-year-old tribal man, who was suffering from cardiac related problems atop Neknamalai Hills near Vaniyambadi town in Tirupattur, died on the way to a private hospital in the town after a group of youth brought him in a two-wheeler from the rocky terrain to the hospital, around 7 kms away from the hamlet in the hills.Part of the Eastern Ghats, Neknamalai village panchayat has two small hamlets in the hills. Around 175 families have been inhabitants in these hamlets since the 1900s. “We carry the sick and expectant mothers in cloth tied bamboo sticks to government hospital at Vaniyambadi town, around 10 kms down the hills. We got a PDS outlet in the hills only last June after the then Collector K. Tharpagaraj inspected the hamlet,” said N. Vennela, a resident.Residents said that deceased S. Govindan, an agricultural worker, complained of chest pain to his family members on Sunday evening. Immediately, a group of youth in the hamlet took him in one of the two-wheelers and travelled to Vaniyambadi town. Govindan rode pillion. At the private hospital, doctors informed that he had died. The residents used hand-held torches and carried the body back home in the hills to perform last rites.Forest officials said that the existing pathway was formed way back in 1910 to monitor the forest by the British. Since then, the pathway has been used by the tribals in the hillock with no repair or formation of pucca road.Published - February 25, 2025 11:14 pm IST