Khola, a village in the southernmost taluka of Goa and the northernmost village of Canacona has its own share of tough and difficult living conditions as any other hilly village in Goa.
Enduring all the difficulties and hard life, the same Western Ghats have given most of the villagers, recognition and avenues to earn their living since they settled and today they are called the original Gaonkars of the village that is deep down 'Khola'.
The villagers feel that Khola can have bright days ahead as far as infrastructure like good roads, water supply and electricity in the village is concerned.
The village has become synonymous with the famous Khola Cillies known for its bright red colour and mild pungent taste.
These chillies which are grown on the hilly slopes of the village have been bestowed with GI (Geographical Indication) tag which has created a huge demand for these chillies, which command a premium price of over 6 hundred a kg.
There are vast grooves of coconut gardens on the lowlands and cashew plantations on high lands, all of these activities keep them busy throughout the year.
Equally important is the fishing activities that are carried out by the fishermen from the village through traditional ways. Many of these fishermen now have opted for FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastic) boats with outboard engines and better nets, which are helping their economic wellbeing as well.
The village is having another unique feature as it falls under the jurisdiction of Canacona taluka for administrative purposes while the village falls in Quepem constituency.
The Khola village which has about 7,500 inhabitants is dominated by tribals, which constitutes about 90 per cent of its total population while OBC and general category constitutes the rest.
With forest land all around, Saleri River on the south and Arabian Sea to the west, it is natural for most of the inhabitants of this village to practice either agriculture or fishing or both as the main occupation since ages.
The virgin beaches in the village and the recent spurt in tourism activities have opened up new avenues for the locals. Many of them are involved in providing ancillary support to the accommodation providers, which is dominated by people from outside of their village.
The village, which boasts of giving first doctor to Canacona taluka in the form of Dr Venkatesh Prabhudesai decades earlier, was craving for attention from the authorities.
And in 2014, it received a shot in the arm as Khola was adopted by the then Member of Parliament from South Goa, Narendra Sawaikar under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.
Sawaikar's initiative coupled with the active involvement of Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar, who was the MLA that time and now the Deputy Chief Minister, along with the village citizen committees has transformed the village in many ways.
Today, many of the objectives of the model village are achieved but there is more to be done, Kavlekar adds.
The village has a remodeled government High School at Goval, good roads and proper water supply in the northern parts of the village but a lot more needs to be done, say locals.
Speaking to Herald, Dy CM Kavlekar informed that half of the northern side of Khola has been supplied drinking water from the Selaulim dam.
"The estimates for laying a pipeline to transport water to the other half have been done and I want to execute it as early as possible" Kavlekar informed. "Due to the geographical location of the village there are frequent power cuts and the government intends to undertake underground cabling of low and high tension electricity cables in the village by spending funds from tribal-sub plan, Kavlekar added.
Adding further he said that another important infrastructural project, which is underway, will connect Khola with national highway at Barcem. Now the residents of Khola have to travel 17 km, but when the road is complete, the distance to Barcem will be just 3 km.
Purna Srinivas Nayak, village sarpanch, said the Dy CM along with Canacona MLA and Deputy Speaker Isidore Fernandes are equally concerned and helpful as far as the difficulties faced by the panchayat is concerned.
Kavlekar further informed that as an agricultural minister, he wants to take the already famous Khola mirchi which has GI tagging to new heights with proper scientific approach in production and marketing.
From a tourism perspective, Kavlekar added that he intends to develop the famous Cabo de Rama Fort, together with the other beaches nearby so that the Khola village becomes self-sufficient not only in terms of agriculture but revenue as well.