VALPOI: The July 23 floods may have washed away Tolyo Gawade’s home at Kankire in the Sattari taluka, but not his resolve to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. Keen on honouring the remover of obstacles, he has installed an idol of the elephant-headed god in a tarpaulin tent near his collapsed house.
Gawade works as a helper and belongs to the small Scheduled Tribes settlement of Kankire village. His house is one of the three that collapsed during the floods two months ago. Ganesh Chaturthi has now renewed his hopes that assistance to rebuild his home, and life, will be more forthcoming.
Although Gawade received compensation of Rs 1 lakh from the state government, he says it is too little to rebuild his house. “The government should understand that such a small amount of money is insufficient. Hence, we seek more financial help,” he says. “Health minister and local MLA Vishwajit Rane had promised that he would rebuild my house with his own money and urged me not to take support from social groups. Two months have gone by, but there has been no progress,” he rues.
For now, he and his family of 10 live in a rented house nearby and hope that better days will shine on them soon.
While distributing relief letters to at least 150 beneficiaries, Rane had said that financial assistance was provided as top priority to the flood-hit villages of Sattari and Usgao. He has also said that the state government strives to reach out to citizens in all circumstances.
