Evescape

A toilet story With Goa missing ODF deadline twice, it is a worrying situation that a lauded policy like the Swacch Bharat Mission almost never come to fruition on the ground, even in a village like Cola, specifically “adopted” by a parliamentarian.  Ghanne is a ward of the Cola village, in down south Quepem Taluka. The popular Adinath temple is located in this ward. Some 300 people live here. Saraswati Velip, 80 something is the face of the story of this ward. With not a single household toilet, the entire village defecates in the open. In the evening of her life, Saraswati's only wish is to see a toilet in her house. "Iam tired of walking long distance to relieve myself. In my young days, things were better and we never felt bad about defecating in the open. There was lot os vegetation and the population was less. Now things have changed. With education and awareness, there is lot of discomfort doing the routine. The younger women and girls are worst hit by the lack...

Looming water crises in the village of Cola (Khola), Goa   Sisters Mayawati and Chandravati Velip are residents of Matvem, one of the seven wards in the jurisdiction of the Cola panchayat. Both are members of a mahila mandal comprising of 23 members and run a humble eatery in the area. What irks them is the acute water crises faced by villagers. Leela Velip is another member of the Adinath mahila mandal, and a resident of Govonn which faces chronic water shortage. More wards, including Saleri,  Cajumoll, Kudai, Ambdem, Ghanne, Govol and Cabo De Rama too are affected by the dry spell. The most affected ward due to water shortage is Matvem which has a polulation of some 1200 people, the sisters informed. Paucity of water resources in several wards of Cola village has assumed chronic nature with residents flaying the authorities for failing to redress the problem. The village grapples with water paucity, throughout the year, but face acute crises in the months starting F...