Man and animals quench their thirst alike

The residents had moved near Marutidham Mandir, off National Highway No 8 near Waghodia chokdi, five years ago when they were given 25 sq metre plots on land declared surplus under the Urban Land Ceiling Act. The resettlement had followed their eviction from a slum near the Harni Airport.

8220;When we came it was a jungle. We put in everything to clear the vegetation and made the place liveable. The locality from where we were shifted is a jungle now,8221; says Arjun Bhiloo, wondering why they were shifted in the first place.

The settlement is a cluster of huts without any basic amenity. There is no drinking water source, no road, no electricity, all of which was more or less available to them in the Manekpark slum, from where they were shifted.

Ironically, the Narmada branch canal passes by barely 100 metres from Priyankanagar. In fact, the pond was created when work on the canal was in full swing. The pond is deep and sometimes residents trying to collect water fall into it.

Last year, a 16-year-old boy got drowned when he got into the pond to fill water. 8220;It took 16 hours to recover the body,8221; says an elderly woman. At another nearby pond, two girls had lost their lives. Water coming from the only handpump in the locality is unfit for human consumption.

Residents say they have send petitions to the authorities many a time, but to no effect. Additional Collector H Chauhan washes his hand of the problem, saying it was not binding on the State Government to provide amenities to residents of Priyankanagar. 8220;Nor do we have funds to take up such humanitarian activity,8221; he says.

Chauhan feels it is the duty of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation to provide drinking water in the area. But the civic body8217;s Panigate Ward Office, closest to Priyankanagar, believes it is the duty of 8220;some gram panchayat8221;. Neither the Vadodara Taluka Development Officer nor the District Panchayat President is aware who is supposed to provide amenities to Priyankanagar.

Absence of a clean water source is not the only problem of the residents of Priyankanagar. In the absence of lights, fear takes over when the evening draws close. The residents claim they have little or no valuables but still the settlement attracts thieves in the night. A group of women allege that drivers of the truck passing from the highway get into the settlement at odd hours and make strange demands.

8220;We will lynch them if the thieves come in small numbers. But they are always armed and move in groups,8221; the residents say, pointing how easy it is to access the settlement. 8220;The only time access becomes difficult is during monsoon. The area turns into a slushy field. Even we find it difficult to cross the trench that separates the highway from their huts,8221; an elderly man says.

A couple of pipes serves the purpose of a bridge during monsoon. 8220;We were promised everything, even loans to set our homes in order,8221; Khandubhai Guljarsinh says wryly, asking, 8220;Will anyone give us even a Rs 10 loan.8221;