Believe it or not, this village which falls in Tiswadi taluka and is hardly 14 km from the state’s capital city of Panjim, is completely disconnected from MAINLAND GOA!
Entire Vaxim village is an Island which is house to nearly 250 people who have no direct connectivity, they have to cross another Island by ferry service and reach to Panjim, Riabandar or Old Goa which are nearest market places.
This village has no shops, no milk vendor, no newspapers vendor, no bakery, no PDS shop. In short NO PROVISION.
The completely isolated Vanxim village cries for government attention and demands at least a bridge to reach Divar Island where couple of grocery shops is located.
Vaxim is home to Christians as well as Hindus. The village has fantastic harmony among the people but lacks the basic necessities. Villagers have said that most of the people have migrated from the village due to lack of infrastructure which is a daily headache of them.
The villagers have to walk at least a km to reach to the ferry point. Then they have to cross the river and reach Divar Island. From Divar, people either choose to go to Old Goa or Ribandar which is approximately distance of 3.5 km.
One state-owned bus plies from Vanxim ferry point to Divar ferry point which hardly makes 5 to 6 trips a day which are mainly during peak hours or else people have to walk or have to depend on the private vehicle.
The most affected are the elderly and students in this village. Locals have told Herald that 30 students are daily commuting through two ferries to reach their schools.
“In a medical emergency case, it is not possible for the villagers to shift the patient even in the private van, forget about ambulance which will take more than an hour to attend to the emergency,” said a local Antony Pinto.
Students sitting under the trees and studying at the Divar ferry post waiting for the bus to pick them up to Vanxim ferry point is a regular sight.
“Students are forced to leave their homes at 6am but never reach home before 3.30pm in the afternoon,” said a local-Joe Marshal.
Vanxim has an approximate population of 250 people with160 voters. There are 65 families.
Though the village has power lines and potable water supply, the villagers often complain about the lack of other basic amenities.
“The water content in the open wells are not fit for consumption at times and the potable water that flows through the taps is not sufficients," Manual Furtado a local said.
