Team Herald
PONDA: The 90-member strong Vanarmare nomad tribe at Nirankal in Bethora celebrated Ganesh festival without having the basic facilities of toilets and electricity.
Though the government has declared Goa as open defecation free (ODF) State, the Vanarmare tribe has no toilets. The government has not provided them even the bio-toilets.
They have no electric connection and the solar lamps provided to them have become non-functional. However, the government has provided them with water supply.
Since the land on which this tribal community has built its huts belongs to the local comunidade, providing electricity connections to their huts has become difficult.
This tribal community claims to be living in Bethora for the last 50 years. Their temporary huts were demolished four years ago and this led to public outrage. And many public spirited citizens provided the tribal community various assistance to overcome their losses and alleviate their plight.
A complaint was also filed before the Goa Human Rights Commission highlighting the plight of these people. Following this, the commission directed the government to provide them with basic necessities.
The police also filed criminal cases against some locals for demolishing the huts of this tribal community.
