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Journalism of Courage
No vote, at times, speaks louder than a vote. So, even as nearly 42 per cent of Gujarat turned up for the polls, 2,500-odd villagers of Muthiya decided not to vote, protesting against 20 years of ‘‘political and administrative apathy’’.
The village, near GIDC Naroda, is a dumping ground for toxic chemical wastes released by 220 factories situated nearby. And, for the past two decades, they have approached MPs, MLAs, courts and the Pollution Control Board for a solution, but to no avail.
While the polling booth in a municipal school wore a deserted look, an official said: ‘‘Nobody has come out to vote. We requested them to come with their voter identity cards but they refused, saying they are not interested.’’
‘‘Both Shankarsinh Vaghela and Liladhar Vaghela, Congress and BJP candidates, were aware of our decision so they completely ignored the area during their campaigning,’’ says Bhika Bharwad, a resident of Sanjaynagar where the borewell supplies coloured water.
Pollution is just one of the problems faced by Muthiya villagers. The village has no pipe water, its groundwater is polluted, it doesn’t have a primary health centre let alone a hospital and there are no toilets for its residents who work in factories.
‘‘We decided to stay away from the elections as we do not want to be cheated again. Leaders come here, make false promises, assure us that things will be better when their party comes to power. But sadly, nothing changes here,’’ says Janak Shukla who was instrumental in organising the poll boycott as a last resort.
‘‘It was a conscious decision,’’ says Madhusudan Patel, a social worker. He said the recent gas leakage from one of the factories in the area was the last straw. Ammonia swept across the village and villagers had to spend a night on the highway to escape the fumes.
Jeetu Shukla, who heads the Muthiya Bachao Samiti, said: ‘‘We have refused to exercise our right to vote because have been cheated time and again. We have now raised the slogan — no facilities, no vote.’’
‘‘How can one expect us to vote when we are being suffocated, and have no clean water to drink?’’ asks a woman. ‘‘Children suffer the most, they develop rashes because of the pollution and we have no solution,’’ says Anu Raval, a housewife who campaigned door-to door, requesting women to refrain from casting their votes.
The residents had filed a writ petition in the High Court in 1996 against GIDC, GPCB and the Factory Owners’ Association. The High Court had ordered the removal of sludge from the village premises but nothing has been done so far.
17 villages join Muthiya’s election boycott call
Seventeen villages across the state boycotted the polls, protesting the ‘‘government neglect’’. These include Hurbali, Horda, Rajwa, Rampura, Bhunasa and five other villages of Chhota Udepur constituency; Timati and Ratnar village in Jamnagar constituency; Uttampura, Vasan Chaudhry and Kavat villages of Kapadvanj constituency; Anida village of Bhavnagar constituency and Hatamtilaga village of Rajkot constituency. Residents of three other villages — Daulatpura, Mevasa and Koida — in Surendranagar constituency boycotted the elections till afternoon but later reportedly came out to exercise their franchise. —(ENS)
