Idamalakkudy is the only tribal village in Kerala where the common people or tourists are not permitted to enter. This beautiful village is surrounded by dense forest on all sides. It is a remote area with no roads, electricity or telephones. Although 200 people had applied for the post of election officials in the 2016 election, only 12 lucky people got the job.
The paths here in Idamalakkudy are still used by elephants, bears and wild boar to travel across the jungle. The Idamalakkudy Panchayat came into being on 1st November, 2010. The total area of the village is 106sq.km. One has to travel by foot for almost 16km from Pettimudy to reach the panchayat headquarters in Idamalakkudy. It takes almost 5-6km walk to reach each ‘kudi’. Earlier it was a part of Munnar panchayat but was later given a separate status.
Although 6 years have passed since the formation of this panchayat, there is very less social-economic development here. This is the only panchayat which has an office in Devikulam which is almost 50km away from the headquarters in Societykudy. The officials control the governing of the panchayat from Devikulam office although there is another office inside the panchayat itself. They blame the absence of transportation for not going to Idamalakkudy which is the main obstacle for development here. This may be the only panchayat in Kerala which has not even a cycle here. The only educational institution is a government L.P school. The life of the people here is solely dependent on ration goods which are brought here from Munnar. These ration goods are brought in jeep till the forest border at Pettimudy. From here they are carried as head-load to the two ration shops in this remote area. The movement of goods are interrupted whenever there is a heavy rainfall in the region.
