Mumbai: Locals, environment being ignored in Palghar district

Baliram Jadhav (left) of BVA was the first MP from Palghar and Rajendra Gavit (Shiv Sena) was until recently in the BJP

The first Lok Sabha elections were held in Palghar district in 2009 and its first member of Parliament was Baliram Jadhav of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA). The party has again fielded Jadhav in the present Lok Sabha elections, and he has the support of the Mahagathbandhan. Sitting MP Rajendra Gavit, his opponent, was in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until recently. There are also 10 independent candidates in the field.

Palghar district has six Vidhan Sabha constituencies in eight talukas, of which the only developed area is under the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC). The rest is tribal area. About 70 per cent of the population (around 10 lakh voters) lives in the tribal area while 30 per cent (around 8 lakh voters) stay in the cities.

While the government's many plans will affect Palghar district, such as the Mumbai-Vadodara expressway, 5,000 acre port at Vadvan, coastal road etc, locals and activists complain that residents and the environment are being ignored. The locals have been protesting against these projects which will endanger the environment on the pretext of development.

"The tribals are unemployed and their children are dying of malnutrition. There is no good hospital in Palghar. The residents have agricultural land but there is no facility of irrigation. And now the government wants to run a bullet train for which the agricultural lands are being taken with an excuse of compensation," said Sameer Vartak, a social worker and activist. Other activists, including Domnica Dabre and Kumar Kakde, pointed out that non-availability of drinking water must be resolved.

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