The Shirgao village is going to witness the famous Lairai zatra today (Friday). However, the villagers have expressed great displeasure over the fact that there is no water in the village to satisfy the needs of the people and the devotees as the mining companies have stopped pumping out water from the pits.
It may be stated that the famous zatra of Shirgao will be held today and thousands of devotees from all over the state and even the other neighbouring states would come to this zatra. The five-day zatra will begin from today but its preparations had started long time back.
The devotees of this temple, who are traditionally Fire Walkers, are called as “DHONDS” and comprise of gents as well as ladies. These Dhonds carry out very strict procedures in their daily duties. They remain vegetarians for 40 days; they bathe after every meal to purify themselves.
On the previous day of the event, a huge wooden pyre is created from dried wooden barks and timber. Many of the devotees contribute towards the creation of this pyre by bringing and contributing wood.
This pyre is lit up at mid-night and the Dhonds start running through these hot embers – bare feet. At this time there are more that 10,000 Dhonds awaiting the momentous time. Even though this zatra is very famous throughout the state the villagers from this area have stated that the dhonds who were staying in Shirgao had hardship as the wells had gone dry.
“There is no water in the wells at Shirgao for bathing and drinking. Several wells have gone dry and this is all because of mining”, said Manorama Shirgaonkar an elderly lady from Shirgao.
As per a report about 10-15 wells from the village have gone dry since last few days and many of them blame the mining companies for the same. The sarpanch of the panchayat was in quandary as several of the villagers approached him with the problem.
“It is a serious problem that we have faced just at the time when the famous zatra is underway. It is all because of mining as they have stopped pumping out water from the pits that the wells have gone dry”, said Shirgao sarpanch, Sadanand Gaonkar.
The villagers also feel the same and have demanded with the mining company to supply them with required water. “The pits have gone too deep and so all the sources of water have been diverted. We never had this problem before but this season as the mining has stopped the work and are not pumping out water the entire area has gone dry,” explained Hanumant Kerkar.
It may be stated that after the mining companies had stopped pumping out water the famous Harvalem waterfall had also gone dry.
