For some, the fight never ends. Dr Dattaram Desai aka Nana is one such fighter who has selflessly dedicated his entire life to the betterment of the twin village where he has been living since he was born – the village of Savoi-Verem
Photo Credits: pg 1- cover
you ride along the steep slopes that take you through the unmanned curvy tar road from the Bhutkhamp plateau to Savoi-Verem, you cross the spot where the historical battle between the locals and multinational giant, Thaper DuPont, took place. The fight – popularly known as Nylon 6, 6 – finally ended in 1995 sacrificing a young local martyr – 25-year-old Nilesh Naik. His memory is still fresh in the minds of 5000 odd villagers of this twin village in Ponda Mahal who fought against the setting up of the factory as they feared it would be detrimental to their environment and life.
Recalling the long, eventful years of their struggle, the leader of the masses Dr Dattaram Desai, who led the all-party action committee’s battle successfully from beginning to end, gets emotional. He chokes, his voice breaks and his eyes well up. Born, raised and settled in Savoi-Verem, this doctor is very good at reading the pulse of his people. For the people living in and around Ponda – Dr Dattaram Desai aka Nana, as he is fondly called – is next to God.
Narrating the 1995 battle, Dr Desai talks of youth Nilesh Naik, who was wounded in a police firing trying to save the women from police atrocities. “Today, Nilesh has become a legend and is remembered thrice a year, on January 26, August 15 and December 19, when the national flag is hoisted at his memorial at Bhutkhamb,” informs Dr Desai agreeing that there were times when even he thought of leaving the battlefield. "But I just couldn’t. The people had reposed tremendous trust in me and I could not ditch them and back out. That would be cowardly. There were two options left before us – ‘do’ or ‘die’ and we chose both,” says Dr Desai who never stopped fighting for his village since.
“After the Nylon 6, 6 battle, it dawned upon me that people’s participation creates power which even the system or administration is unable to suppress,” says Dr Desai who activated Gram Vikas Kendra (GVK) to resolve local issues. With the help of like-minded people, environmentalists and experts including Kamlakar Sadhale and Dr Nandkumar Kamat, the GVK began studying water harvesting bodies in his village. At the time when the concept of self-help groups was alien in Goa, GVK formed around 150 voluntary self-help groups to work on the projects in their area.
Sharing their success story of revival of lake on Khamini Dongar, Dr Desai recalls, “We called it watershed management and worked hand in hand with national watershed development project for rain fed areas with people’s participation. The lake was revived and the dozen homes that earlier suffered water crises, got water from this lake directly into their homes, free of cost.”
Believing in the concept of the people, by the people and for the people, the GVK’s campaign undertook 7,000 hectares of watershed development in seven panchayats. With dedicated team mates like Shrirang Jambhale, late Mahesh Shilkar and Arun Madgaonkar the self-help groups and user groups (around 3000 people) worked together to develop water bodies in Savoi-Verem, Keri, Betki Khandola, Bhom Banastarim, Veling Priol, Kothambi, Amone, Tivre Vadgaon etc.
But that’s not the end of the story. Since the time he began his medical practice in the village in 1979, Dr Desai has remained a continual force of motivation for the locals. Joining them in their struggle to have better roads, telephone exchange, employment, irrigation facilities, profitable farming, drinking water resources, revival of natural water bodies, education, vocational training, ration / fair price shops, cooking gas, health facilities and library for the locals – the list of his achievements is endless. There is not a single issue that remains untouched.
Dedicating his life for the locals, Dr Desai continues his march. Twenty years later, even in 2016 his mission seems to be never-ending. “Life continues with no pause, no break,” smiles his wife Urmila Desai, a retired headmistress from New English School, Kundaim, one of the five educational institutes under Centro Educardore, Priol. “I retired in April 2015 but there seems to be no retirement for this doctor of the village,” she states pointing to the recent project her husband has undertaken – Jal Yatra.
Kickstarted on January 17 this year, the group visits ancient natural water bodies that are deserted, abandoned and left to decay, dry and die every Sunday. “If these water bodies are revived they would rejuvenate the dying horticulture and agriculture in not only our village but in all the villages across Goa,” argues Dr Desai who has with him a vigilant and vibrant team of doctors, educationists, developers, senior citizens and environmentalists along with common man from the land. “Our team is not fixed. We keep adding new faces to it. Currently we have Dr Sarvesh Dubhashi, Dr Subhash Shikerkar, Dr Ajay Pednekar, Chitra Shikerkar, Bhasu Khandeparkar, Pratibha and Sandeep Nigalye, Madhu Naik Gaonkar and Kalidas Satarkar. More will join,” he says.
The team has so far visited lost water reservoirs at Vijayadurga Devasthan, Shitole, Bonaye, Simepayan Mangeshi, Navdurga, Narayan, Mavzovada Kundai, Kalajire, Nalle, Satode, Dhaigode. Dr Desai is optimistic that sooner or later the youth would join his Jal Yatra, which will be gradually stretched across the lengths and breadth of Goa, marking rural water bodies to revive and rejuvenate. This is to help the community equip itself with enough, natural water resources locally available. Meeting the locals, understanding their needs of water, studying the natural water bodies in the area, the need for cleaning them, de-silting those which are clogged with mud thus unblocking the natural springs is on the agenda.
In the olden days, there was no administrative procedure to follow before doing any community work, like cleaning the common water bodies or de-silting the village lakes. The villagers used to gather and offer their labour free of charge, help in whichever way they could and get the work done, as it would benefit all. Now there are stringent procedures to follow. The Jal Yatra, however, is sure to march ahead.
Photo Credit: Bharati Pawaskar
Photo Caption:
Dr Dattaram Desai with his team of likeminded citizens from around Ponda inspecting the natural water bodies in Keri on a Sunday morning
Dr Dattaram Desai at Shitole talle, a part of which was de-silted with the help of locals and this ancient water source brought to life
The sledge gate built beautifully with laterite stones that lay undiscovered for decades till Dr Dattaram Desai uncovered its true form and rejuvenated the dead water-body, which now, is being used by the locals as a drinking water source
The barren piece of land at Keri that once was a lake –
