Team Herald
PONDA: The members of the family from Shivde–Dharbandora have refuted allegations made by villagers accusing them of committing water theft from the storage tank located in the village.
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Pained over the charges levelled against them, the family members Gurudas Gavatankar and his two brothers addressing to media persons informed that the PWD officials had promised the family free water connection if they allowed the construction of pump house and access road free of cost in their property.
Accused of committing water theft, the family members showed the land property documents and demanded justice.
It may be recalled that the villagers had accused the family of committing water theft for the past 12 years and had demanded that the officials file police complaint against the members for using free water.
Responding to allegations levelled by the locals, Gurudas and his two brothers said, “In 2007 the then PWD officials namely AE Arun and JE Sandeep Gaude approached us asking to part our land for constructing a pump house and access road to the water storage tank constructed by PWD at Shivde. At that time, I demanded that our family be provided with three jobs and free water. The officials had agreed to our request and provided us with free tap water.”
“We did not spend a single rupee for this connection. However, we were not provided with jobs or any money for our land used by PWD for constructing the pump house and for access road in our property. With the free water connection provided by the PWD, we availed a loan and started growing various plants. Now, we are surprised over the allegations from locals that we have committed water theft,” the family members informed.
“At that time, we had sought for written assurance, but the PWD officials asked us to trust theme and trusting them, we did not take any written assurance from them. Now, following disconnecting of our water connections, our livelihood is at stake as we totally depend on income earned from bagayat farm,” they added.
He said even former PWD Minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar was aware of the fact when he visited site in 2012 and asked us to trust the department officials.
