A Lost Village in Sanguem

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Sanguem: Every five years interval the contestants for State Assembly seat including MLA  make a trip to this tiny village situated at the Goa-Karnataka border away from the rest of Goa. Juna a village consisting of only five houses dwelled by the tribal families remains without basic facilities even after the 60 years of Goa’s liberation.

 

Team GNH visited the village to know about the difficulties faced by them in the day-today’s life as it is completely deserted from the rest of Goa.

 

This village is only 14 km away from the main Sanguem town. The rough mud road through Netrwali Wildlife Sanctuary is the only way to reach the village. Families residing in the village still have no proper road access, no electricity, no potable water, no connectivity of any kind of communication.

 

Students either prefer to stay in the hostels or take shelter  at relatives places for their studies. In case of any emergency the road is not even motorable for an ambulance to reach in lifesaving time.

 

”Now we have one or two motorcycles in the village, which is also very difficult to ride on the rocky road through forest in case of emergency. We never complained to the authorities as our ancestors chose this place for their livelihood more than a hundred years in the regime of foreign administration”, said Laxman Gaonkar, a local resident of Juna.

 

The entire village is completely dependent on the farming activities and the other crop which they cultivate for their daily diet.

 

“Besides what we grow in our fields, rest everything we buy once a month by making a trip to town. Some have motorcycles and some are still walking through forest lands to reach the grocery store”, a villager said.

 

People are using solar energy in the houses to lighten up the lamps at night.

 

The fields are often attacked by the wild animals that cause losses every season and every year. “Whatever crop remains after the attack we consume”, an elderly lady expresses to the GNH team.

 

The village falls in the Bhati village panchayat jurisdiction. None of the houses has toilet facilities despite various schemes of Central as well as State Government schemes in the recent past.

 

Villagers have arranged for the water supply on their own through the pipeline as it reaches a doorstep on gravity.

 

The Karnataka border can be seen from the village corridor. One has to pass from the hilly terrain of forest areas to reach this village.

 

“We are not blaming the Government or authorities but we feel sad as we are also a part of this State and citizens of this country, we feel lost”, a villager expressed.

 

Our team has made an attempt to reach the villagers to know about their life and difficulties in routine life. People are only hoping for the early rehabilitation as there is no other option they find in the past several years.

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