Mumbai: Helpless Virar tribals protest in waist-high floodwater

More than sixdozen huts belonging to Katkari tribal families near the coastal Arnala area of Virar West have been submerged due to incessant rain causing severe flooding An activist who approached the disaster management and the local gram panchayat for assistance stated that no measures were taken to prevent flooding in the lowlying areaAs their makeshift tents and belongings were destroyed by the rainwater the impoverished families have been unable to cook at home and have been surviving on biscuits for the past three days according to the activistThe alleged inaction of the government machinery compelled the tribals to stage a waisthigh water protest against the revenue officials in Virar on ThursdayA hut submerged in floodwatersAround 2500 tribals reside in the Adivasi Pada area where they have set up approximately 600 makeshift tents on collector land along the coastal Arnala area The authorities had issued a red alert until July 22Sheru Wagh an activist and the Vasai taluka secretary of the MarxistLeninist Party of India Red Flag shared that he had approached all relevant government officials with a request to prevent flooding in the Adivasi Pada area during the monsoon However his plea was ignoredldquoI met the tahsildar SDM officials from disaster management at Palghar collectorrsquos office and gram sevak with a request letter The Adivasi Pada area where more than 2500 tribal families of the Katkari community reside faces havoc due to rainwater accumulation I had urged the authorities to establish a proper drainage system to prevent thisrdquo Wagh told middayActivists and tribals protesting in waisthigh waterHe expressed concern about the dire conditions of the poor tribals who are facing sleepless nights with their belongings including utensils beddings and their childrenrsquos books and notepads all soaked in rainwater Wagh emphasised that resolving the flooding issues could be achieved by using an earth excavating machine to create a temporary drainage system but the Gram Sevak claimed they were unable to procure one in VirarAfter the protest the gram sevak arrived at the scene and promised assistance to the tribals who are living in distressWhen contacted the Tahsildar of Vasai taluka Avinash Kosti informed midday that a team of revenue officials had recently visited the Adivasi Pada arealdquoThe tribals have encroached upon government land to build huts and makeshift tents in the area which is prone to monsoon effects We offered them the option to relocate to a safer place a nearby school but only two families agreed to moverdquo Kosti statedldquoWe have also provided raw ration at the school but the tribals are unwilling to go there Some huts are submerged in the rainwaterrdquo he addedRegarding the demand for an earth excavating machine to create a temporary drain Kosti explained that the muddy area would cause the machine to get stuck making it unfeasibleThe Gram Sevak of Gram Panchayat Arnala Nitin Rane confirmed that the entire area is waterlogged making it difficult to bring in machines to construct a drain Nevertheless they manually created a route to allow rainwater to recede which may take some time He assured that a machine would be brought in the next morning to create a proper drain in the area