Devendra Gaonkar
Valpoi: Come Assembly polls, come panchayat polls. Reams of newsprint are used to cover these elections and highlight the plight of people living in constituencies, panchayats and talukas. Results are subsequently declared with much fanfare. Some areas benefit. Some are “gone with the wind” – into oblivion, literally. Kazaredhat is one such remote village in Valpoi constituency, located 15 km from Valpoi town. The village falls under the wildlife sanctuary. There isn’t any road. The villagers’ quest for potable water hasn’t ended yet and “power” to people? The village is literally “poles” apart where electricity is still a distant dream.
It’s obvious that a village with so many shortcomings would not have a school and Angawadi services too even after 50 years!
Children from this village have to tread quite a while to the neighbouring village for education. Today, with so much of sloganeering and lecturing by politicians like Sab ka Vikas sab ka Saath, the villagers wonder where they faulted for which they have been meted out this isolation by all political parties.
In this village, there are 37 houses, divided into two vaada that is Bandirwada and Kazaredhat. In Bandirwada, there are 20 houses and at Kazaredhat there are 17 houses. There are 150 voters and the population is 300. And the village comes under Savardem Panchayat, which is a backward Panchayat in Sattari.
From our village, almost 30 children have to trudge 8 km daily to reach a school. As there are no roads, the school bus doesn’t reach our village. Our children have to risk their lives as the village is wrapped by the wildlife sanctuary.
After going through rigmarole, on a daily basis, our children reach late. Also the senior kids who have made it to college, the ordeal is the same. They have to depend on car lifts etc and have a hell of a time reaching their educational institutes,” said Sukto Mahadev Gawade, a villager.
“We have been given a single phase electricity connection for our homes and lights are very dull. Even that supply is not for 24 hours. The dullness affects our eyes and is a huge dampner to our chidlren’s education. It is needless to say that there are no streetlights in our village,“ said another villager Pandurang Jivlo Gawade.
“We don’t have supply of potable water and it is hell during the summers with the wells going dry. Only during the monsoon we “get” some water!” laments Yamuna Gawade.
In every village gramsabha, we raise our problems and also we had met then Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, he had promised us that he will solve our problem, but had not done anything,” said villager Laxman Yashwant Bordekar.
“My village has been suffering like this since my childhood. I have seen my elders fighting for their basic needs for decades. I have done my part of the struggle and expressed my resentment and protest. I will continue to do my bit. We may meet Vishwajit Rane soon and place our problems before him, “said the newly elected panch member Narayan Gaonkar.
