Maharashtra: ‘Do we even exist in the state’s eyes?’

Hundreds of tribals from three talukas of Raigad district will be marching to the district collectorrsquos office today seeking basic amenities and to protest abject neglect by local officials The charter of demands of tribal people of Panvel Pen and Khalapur includes road connectivity potable water sanitation anganwadi health care centres and a crematoriumA tribal woman walking alone towards Khadai Dhangarwadi in Khalapur which has a population of about 200 peopleThe tribal people are also demanding action against the officials of the Zilla Parishad and revenue department for failure to implement various state and central government schemes The marching tribal people will also be demanding to lodge FIRs against the errant officials for dereliction of duty The protesters have threatened to sit on fast unto death if the demands are not metDeprived of basic rightsAccording to Santosh Thakur founder of Gram Sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha who has taken up the fight for the voiceless tribal people said ldquoIt is unfortunate that tribal people residing in over 10 tribal wadis from three talukas of Raigad district 84 tribal wadis in Raigad district lack basic amenitiesrdquoA twowheeler struggles to make its way from Karambeli hamlet which has a population of over 1000 tribal people and is located 55 km from the main road in Khalapaur talukaThakur said in Khausa Kelichi Kajuchi Tambdi and Umbarmal in Pen tehsil the tribals from these wadis have been seeking the construction of a road either concrete or asphalt to connect Vadgaon to Khausa and adjoining wadis Thakur said what the villagers got instead is a dirt road and that too is incomplete six months after the work had commenced He said the Rs 60 lakh contract of carving out the dirt road was given to a local politicianrsquos relativeThakur said ldquoThe local authorities have cited lack of funds to construct roads in these wadis and so only dirt roads are being made Besides Tambi and Umbarmal wadis do not even have Anganwadis and health centers and the nearest primary health centre is located 8 to 10 km from their hamletsrdquo Sunil Waghmare 32 of Umbarmal Wadi said ldquoI am now unemployed and have no source of livelihood Our village is on a hilly area amidst a dense forest and there are about 25 houses with a population of about 100 people The problem is that our existence was never acknowledged by anyone we have no roads no water and during monsoon the power fluctuates and power disruption prolongs for weeks We have been misled and let down by the elected body of the panchayat term after term We have to rely on rain water to fulfill our domestic needs but this time the water holes are also drying up rapidlyrdquoNo voice in the planning processAccording to Thakur in the case of Karambali Thakurwadi and Kadai Dhangar wadi in Khalapur taluka for the last three years the tribal people have been demanding funds under the District Planning Development Committee DPDC for roads and water supply Surprisingly none of the villagers are part of the committee in DPDC where the collective voice of the tribal people could be heard by the DPDC members who are MPs MLAs and bureaucrats he saidGram Sanvardhan Samajik Santha an NGO has written to the chief minister and other government officials including the Raigad collector informing them about the charter of demand of tribal people and protest on Dec 13Thakur said ldquoThese villagers are used for vote bank politics and they are left in the lurch post the election The R250 crore demand by the villagers for the construction of roads at Karambali Thakurwadi and Kadai Dhangarwadi has remained on paperrdquoNo cremation groundIn Navandhe and other Wadis in Khalapur Pen and Panvel tribals are forced to cremate in the open Thakur said ldquoThe tribal people have been demanding a crematorium to be constructed near their wadis as during monsoon lighting the pyre becomes utmost challenging Besides the water connections under the Jal Jivan mission in most of these tribal hamlets are only on paperrdquoJanu Waghmare 33 of Navandhe Wadi said ldquoThe file with our demand to construct a crematorium has been pending for seven years The panchayat a few years ago had allowed us to construct a crematorium claiming that the land belonged to them and sanctioned R450 lakh But as we started the work the forest department stopped us as the land belonged to them and no crematorium would be allowed on forest land We also do not have road connectivity inside the villagesrdquoOur protest continuesAdvocate Siddharth Ingale who has been working closely for the tribal welfare in this region said ldquoIt is unfortunate that even the district administration had assured to address the issues being faced by these tribal wadis The district collector was also keen to visit these wadis in person It has been eight months since our last meeting with the collector but till date he has not visited a single wadi nor has he made any headway on our demandsrdquoldquoWe had demanded to bring tribal pockets of Raigad district under the PESA Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act so that these tribal people could get recognition and empowermentrdquo said advocate Ingale OthersideSomnath Garge superintendent of police Raigad said ldquoThe local police will be deploying the bandobastrdquo A state revenue official from the district on condition of anonymity said ldquoWe have to understand that some of these tribals are living in a notified area which comes under the forest department Though the local administration wants to provide them with roads and water supply the same cannot be done on account of forest landrdquo ldquoRehabilitating the tribals to a new location is also a challenge as they have been residing in these notified areas for generations Such protests do come up for gaining attention especially when the Legislative sessions are underwayrdquo the officer saidNever interested in welfareRubbishing the claim of the revenue official Thakur said ldquoEven if these tribals were residing in notified areas under forest department there is provision under section 3 2 of the Forest Right Act 2006 the central government shall provide for diversion of forest land for facilities managed by the government such as school dispensary Anganwadi roads drinking water pipelines etcThe local district administration needs to submit a proposal to the district conservator of forest about the nature of work it proposes to carry out in the forest notified areas The district administration neglects tribal welfare wrongly labelling them as encroachers Itrsquos a disheartening situationrdquo Attempts to contact the district collector Dr Yogesh Mhase did not yield any result