Hearing, speech-impaired couple of Sindhudurg living without power, water supply for nearly 6 decades

During a recent doortodoor health checkup for Covid19 in a forest in the Sindhudurg district a primary school teacher came across a hearing and speech impaired elderly couple living without water and electricity supply for nearly six decadesEknath Jankar the teacher who spotted the hut inside the forested stretch of Tulas village in Vengurla taluka had shared the plight of Vasant Dicholkar and his wife Vanita in a recent Facebook post which has now helped generate support and funds worth Rs 9 lakh for the coupleThe Dicholkars walk 500 metres daily to fetch water from a well in the area The water though is highlycontaminated and unsafe for drinkingJankar who was accompanied by two anganwadi workers when he visited them on June 6 had attempted to knock on the door ldquoWhen we didnrsquot get any response we walked in They had been sleeping and were startled by our presencerdquo Jankar told midday On enquiring he learnt about the couplersquos impairment After jotting down the couplersquos body temperature and oxygen levels he took leave but not before acquiring the bank account details of the couple that he later shared in his postIn Tulas residents are aware of the condition of the couple currently in their late 70s During every election local politicians arrange for a car to take the husband and wife to the voting booth with the promise that they will ensure they receive water and electricity Years have gone by and no support has come yetmidday visited their hut last week negotiating kneedeep water and the quagmire inside the forest The home was dimlylit with a kerosene lantern and the couple was sharing their lunch with a cat when this reporter met themUnable to understand sign language the reporter sought the help of their relative Atul Nirulkar 38 Vanitarsquos brotherrsquos grandson who lives 10 km from their home and often visits with dry ration clothes or medicines when requiredAtul told midday that the couple has been impaired since birth Vasantrsquos mother Sitabai came to Tulas village when he was still a child Here she moved to her brotherrsquos homeOfficials from the gram panchayat seen conducting a survey of the area to install an electricity connectionldquoHe spent his childhood in the same village and would do farming until his mother Sitabai passed away in September 2013 After her death he stopped farming as he was devastatedrdquo said Atul who has a cashew business Vasantrsquos only brother lives in Goa ldquoBut he has never visited himrdquo said Atulrsquos father SureshVanita and Vasant got married when they were in their late 30s Since they are childless the extended family has been looking after them ldquoWe keep asking them to move in with us but they simply refuse They are emotionally attached to this homerdquo said SureshAccording to Atul there is no home within the radius of at least 2 km Before the lockdown Vanita would go to nearby homes and do household work which would help bring in some money But theyrsquove been homebound ever since the pandemic broke out ldquoIn case of any emergency she walks down to the neighbouring homes requesting them to leave me a messagerdquo Atul saidThe elderly couple has to walk around 500 metres daily to reach the nearby well to source water for drinking and household purposes There is neither a water connection inside their hut nor a hand pump in the areaWhen midday visited the well the water seemed highly contaminated Only recently Atul got the old roof tiles replaced with tin roof fixed on iron pillars to prevent rain leakage But the clay mud walls of the home still need repairsAtul Nirulkar and Suresh NirulkarAfter Jankar posted about the couple several people came forward to help them Interior designer Bhumika Tendulkar 37 who had read about the couple had even reached out to Prasad Sudhakar Gawde a known face in Sindhudurg who works in the ecotourism sector to visit the couple ldquoMany people contacted me to check the authenticity of the post I then went to the elderly couplersquos homerdquo said Gawde appreciating the effort of the primary school teacher Tendulkar added ldquoThe teacher has done a great job while discharging his official dutyrdquoJankar said that the deputy collector of Sindhudurg district Rohini Rajput has also taken cognisance of his post and has written a letter to the tehsildar of Vengurla taluka to extend all possible helpWhen midday visited the Dicholkars officials from the gram panchayat had been conducting a survey of the area A few electric poles were also being installed near the homeWhen contacted Shankar Ghare sarpanch of Tulas village said that while the Facebook post had gone viral recently he had approached the MSEDCL office in April seeking an electricity connection for the couple ldquoBut the owners of the land where the electric poles were to be erected raised an objection and it got delayed Recently the deputy collector wrote to the tehsildar to look into the matterrdquo he saidGhare said that the elderly couple will now be given Rs 1200 per month under Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar pension scheme ldquoWe are also planning to relocate the couple to a better place somewhere along the road so that their condition can be monitored But for that they need to be ready to leave their hutrdquo