About 35 Dalit families have urged the District Collector to provide them with pattas for the poromboke lands at MGR Nagar in Periyanaickenpalayam, where they have been residing for more than three decades.

In a petition to the Collector, they also appealed to him to initiate steps to provide basic amenities such as electricity, toilet facilities and water.

“Nearly 40 families have been living in the area for the last 35 years. We have so far not received any patta for the land. We don’t even have basic amenities such as electricity, water, and toilet facilities. But we have been given Aadhar, ration and voter ID cards. Private parties have encroached nearly 10 cents of the land,” said a resident.