Village's only well broken, residents depend on water flowing down hill

For over 16 days since cyclone Nisarga made landfall villagers in and around Nizampur in Mahad Taluka are without electricity As the retaining wall of a sole village well collapsed many have no choice but to fetch water flowing down a hill Many claim that despite pleading with the administration to restore electricity this has only been done in some pocketsPrabhakar Sawant 50 from Raigadwadi village said We were given free kerosene only on Friday and electricity was restored only in some pockets of Raigadwadi Many villages in and around Nizampur in Mahad taluka including Raigadwadi Wageriwadi Boudhwadi etc were affected and houses have either partially or fully collapsed However only legal houses are considered for the assessment property card For decades there are 25 shanties on the Raigad Fort But their loss wont be assessedSawant further claimed In most villages the panchnama was done by asking people the number of tin sheets damaged and extent of damage was calculated on the basis of tin sheet prices For instance if someone lost six sheets per sheet is calculated at R500 and total loss is considered to be only R3000 and he is entitled to that instead of R15000 the governments exgratia payment There is no mention about loss to furniture food grains etcConsider transportationSawant further added The authorities should have also considered the transportation cost of the tin sheets and the fixing charges Most of us have been without jobs for the past few months due to lockdown Sawant said many locals are still in the process of making the assessment documents Some families papers are in Mumbai Speaking about the shanties on Raigad Fort an official said the residents cannot be considered for help as it is under the Archaeological Survey of India ASI However on humanitarian grounds local politicians and NGOs have helped the people said an official from the Tehsildar officeFor nearly a week after the cyclone hit villagers could not deposit their cheques of relief due to the lack of power Rajesh Kumar Branch Manager at Pachad village Bank of India said the branch was shut after the cyclone on June 3 The inverter batteries dried up and they had no option but to close the branch for nearly a weekThe nearest branch of BOI is around 25 km away and arrangement was made there for the villagers to deposit their cheques said KumarDipak Patil Superintendent Engineer MADISCOM Raigad said We have almost completed restoration of 31 of 32 substations that were affected and the remaining one will be restored soonTehsildar speakChandrasen Pawar Tehsildar of Mahad Taluka claimed that most of the damage in Nizampur was minor Asked about not considering payment for transportation and reinstallation of tin sheets he said We have taken into account what the house owners claimed in the panchnama We dont pay for transportation and installation it is not covered as per norms We cannot pay the entire sum of R15000 towards minor damages If some have complained of not getting help they might not have proper assessment papers on the basis of which the payment is done An additional R10000 has been paid to people whose foodgrains clothes furniture etc were damagedThe other sideAditi Tatkare district Guardian Minister said The preliminary reports said that the cyclone damaged eight talukas of Raigad district and Mahad taluka doesnt fall in the category of worst affected areas However I will once again get the situation accessedNidhi Choudhary District Collector clarified stating It is true that in Nizampur near Raigad Fort there is damage The Nizampur Zilla Parishad school andAnganwadi buildings are damagedAbout relief she said The state government has increased the payment from R6000 to R15000 for minor damaged houses R6000 from State Disaster Relief Fund and R9000 from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund Post panchnama the extent of damage is reimbursed as per the statement given by the house owner with R15000 being the maximum amount We must also understand the principle of financial proprietary and payment is done to the extent of damage and not otherwise which will be unfair to the stateRs 15kExgratia payment announced by the governmentCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news