Margao: Every time the politician comes to them for a voice ahead of the poll, the 70-strange Vavurla voter in Quepem only has one request for them – to build an access road to the village of the mountain peak.
This time too, no different.
“Every time they come here before the election, they gave us a guarantee to build the road.
But the road never happened,” said Manju Velip, a village resident.
Three years after the death of a village resident, Govind Velip, mainly due to lack of easy access to medical treatment, there has been no progress on proposals to build access roads to Vavurla.
In an effort to calm the frayed nerves over tribal death, Deputy Minister of Chandrakan Chandrakan Kavlekar then promised to build a road not fast NOC from the Ministry of Forestry was obtained.
The proposal seems to now collect dust in several government offices.
Velip was brought on a make-shift stretcher by his history colleague, overcoming a distance of 3.5 km by foot to get to the nearest motorized road to bring it to the nearest medical facility, the primary health center in Canacona, 15 km.
Velip died while shifting to Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim.
The villagers regret that access to immediate medical care can save his life.
In their struggle to survive in the absence of basic facilities, converting seats to emergency stretchers to bring those who are sick above and down the steep hazardous mountain path is the only choice for villagers.
Kavlekar then told the Toi that the Ministry of Forestry had agreed to provide permits needed to build a road that passed the reserve forest area that led to the village, and that he would pursue this problem.
Kavlekar has helped villagers improve the only road access that has not been dissolved in the village every year after the rainy season.
The proposal for road construction has reached obstacles after the objection of the Ministry of Forestry to confront the tree to facilitate road construction.
“The tribal welfare department has held a series of meetings with the PWD and Electricity Department, after which plans are resolved for road construction with the provisions for installation of electrical cables, street lights and water supply lines.
However, the forestry department refused to give approval because it would require a number of logging.
Great trees, “a source of aware of developments to TOI.
“The construction of road access to the village is the main demand for villagers.
After the road is built, we can hope for other basic facilities to be followed,” said a resident.
A village that is fully inhabited by Tribal, Vavurla has a population a little more than 300, with around 35 houses.
Restrictions on development activities, especially in road construction, has caused the remaining villages almost cut off from other countries.
When tribal villagers go to choose in new government, the topest in their minds is when they will wait for them endlessly.