Beware the wrath of Mother Earth they say. Last week the residents of Guhagar village were shocked to see 4 metre high waves come crashing into the village which is based eight km from the beach. This incident the first in living history occurred on a bright sunny day.
This incident sadly also brought to the fore the casual attitude of the authorities. Deepak Bhagwat a resident of the village said “The authorities did not come over to help us. This attitude has been constant despite us telling them about the water swelling up dangerously against the breakwaters on the beach.”
“It was dangerous and the whole village was marooned for over a day yet nobody came over to help. Rumours started floating that there was tsunami coming in”, says Padmaja Khataokar who traverses from Guhagar to Ratnagiri and had worried family members calling her to alert District authorities at Ratnagiri.
The water also entered the Mirya village which is more than 7 kilometer from the Guhagar beach. The Guhagar beach is located at 43 kilometers from the Ratnagiri town.
The state of water breakers is very poor with maintenance pending for a couple of years depite it being sanctioned. This lethargy is surprising considering the fact that it has been demolished several times in the past by the fury of the waves. Some people claim that only 50% of the maintenance work on these breakers has been completed.
The villagers of both the villages have held state authorities responsible for the negligence of the work. Due to the rainy season now the villagers are very scared of what could be in store for them.
