No electricity, no road, no school, no hospital, no police station and no telephone. At this tiny village in the shadows of the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, civilisation actually takes a step backwards.
The government may have forgotten about their existence, but the 198 people living in Mylar village are proud owners of ration cards and even have a ration shop in their village. So what if the ration shop opens only once a week?
Mylar is located approximately a mile away from the Karayar dam, in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, a state that is in dead heat with other southern states for the 'most industrialised' title.
On our way to the tiger sanctuary, we pass the Papanasam dam, a busy tourist spot. Next is the forest department check-post, where the guard asks for Rs 30 as entry fee but doesn't give a receipt. And the ticketing machine is always under repair.
Once we are inside the tiger territory, there are plenty of huge boards around with images of tigers, but you don't get to see any of them. This road takes us to Karayar.
Image: The Karayar dam towers over the village.
Text & Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar
Also read: A day in the life of a school in Bihar
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