Thursday 28th, March 2024
canara news

We voted to keep the bullet train out: Palghar tribals

Published On : 29 May 2018   |  Reported By : Courtesy: The Hindu   |  Pic On: Photo credit : The Hindu


Mumbai, (The Hindu): Amid allegations of EVM malfunctions and the political slugfest that followed on Monday, tribals in Palghar said they cast their votes in the bye-election to the Lok Sabha seat in the hope to keep their ancestral land from being acquired for the bullet train project. Most said they didn’t believe their situation would change.

No to bullet train

Sevanti Shingde from Aamgaon Patilpada said tribals are against the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. “The government had said they will make provisions for the displaced people within six months, but that hasn't happened.” Vanita Wanga, who was accompanying her, added, “What’s the big deal? We can jpress any button.”

Despite the negativity in the air, the polling booth in Aamgaon Patilpada Zilla Parishad School had a respectable number of voters waiting to exercise their franchise. According to Dassu Redia, a polling agent, the turnout here is comparatively high as votes are being cast for change. Mr. Redia, who says he participated in the Farmers Long March in Dahanu last month to protest the bullet train project, added, “People in this region will be badly affected by the project. They’ll be uprooted from their land, which is why they voting in large numbers to change the situation.”

“We want good water to drink, better job opportunities for our youth and a development plan which makes our life better, but obviously not the bullet train. This doesn’t have any connection to us,” Damu Sariya Arde, 60, of Aamgaon Patilpada said.


Most polling booths beyond Talasari towards Zhari had short queues, while some of them were totally deserted. With little to do, polling officers were seen outside the booths for some cool air as the hot summer day progressed. The polling officer in Kavada Thakarpada said voters had showed up in the first three hours of polling, but their numbers began dwindling later.

In tribal-dominated Talasari taluka, located on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, locals say they are facing water scarcity, poor crops, unemployment and lack of medical access for decades.

The serpentine hilly road from Aamgaon Patilpada Zilla Parishad School leads to a village inhabited by the Katkari Samaj, who have already been notified about land acquisition and proposed evacuation. Here, close to 100 households are desperate to save their homes.

Mahesh and Sailesh Lokhande, brothers and daily wage labourers, had all day to themselves after casting their vote as it was too late to go to work. “We don’t care about the wages we have lost today, but we don’t want to lose our homes to the project, so we voted against it,” they said.

A strident voice from among the voters at the booth, belonging to 32-year-old Naina Raju Pawar, said, “This is our land, we were born here and we won’t leave. We don’t want the bullet train; let the rich fly from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.”

 







More News

 INDIA'S FIRST AI-BASED FILM 'IRAH,' TRAILER LAUNCH
INDIA'S FIRST AI-BASED FILM 'IRAH,' TRAILER LAUNCH
Actor Ranjeet, Pavan Malhotra, Ekta Jain, Cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar, attended the flower exhibition at Jijamata Udyan
Actor Ranjeet, Pavan Malhotra, Ekta Jain, Cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar, attended the flower exhibition at Jijamata Udyan
Governor Ramesh Bais hosts Civic Reception on 75th Republic Day
Governor Ramesh Bais hosts Civic Reception on 75th Republic Day

Write your Comments

Disclaimer: Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. canaranews.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that under 66A of the IT Act, sending offensive or menacing messages through electronic communication service and sending false messages to cheat, mislead or deceive people or to cause annoyance to them is punishable. It is obligatory on CANARANEWS to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using canaranews will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will canaranews.com be held responsible.