BY AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
Panelim in Ribandar is a ward at the foot of a hill that has been mauled by developers for the last year. Despite the development taking place, the few villagers left are making the best of what’s left of an era past.
Life in Panelim shows the contrast between new and old. And, for the old, life is about living in simplicity.
‘Despite the hill cutting that is going on, we haven’t been much affected. It has not disturbed us so far,’ says Surekha, as she grinds her masala on stone in her quaint little hut, just where the steepness of the hill ends.
Hill cutting on the edge of the slope overlooking Panelim ward in Ribandar has been in the news for the last year. Although a high-end residential colony is already up, the few families living below seem prepared to go ahead with life, leaving the turmoil behind.
‘People have complained to various bodies in the past, but the rich keep doing what they want to do. What are we to say? We have no voice, and God is our only hope,’ says Surekha.
Surekha lives in a small hut that has a door that one can walk through, with her small family, hens and the God in the temple on top of the hill for company.
‘It is nice that they have built the steps for our God to be able to come down from the temple. The steps help to break the water gushing down from the hill,’ observes Surekha.
‘We have not been affected by the cutting of the hill, but the families living below, where work has been recently stopped by the government (TCP), could be affected this monsoon,’ thinks Surekha.
‘The water normally flows from the hill through this nullah to the river. We have had no problems so far and aren’t expecting any. However, I fear for the others,’ she adds.
A few hundred metres away from Surekha lives Ashok (name changed on request) with his family.
‘They have been cutting this hill for a long while. Despite complaints, no one acted. Suddenly, the minister wakes up and stops work. But nothing was done when the destruction started,’ says a bewildered Ashok.
‘There have been cases where boulders have come rolling down in some places and that is because no retention walls are being built. If we go to the panchayat, we are told they have no authority. So, who do we go to?’ asks Ashok with disgust writ large upon his face.
Panelim today is made up of a few mud huts and new concrete houses, with the huts located at the bottom of the slopes and the concrete houses tapering towards the San Pedro, Ribandar highway. And the families living in the mud huts appear most vulnerable to mudslides.
Concrete steps are being built from the two ends at which the hills have been cut, one giving access to a temple and the other adding value to real estate nearby.
‘One gets a direct view of the river from the hills, and it is obvious why real estate developers are keen on possessing the hill. Very soon, we will have a mini-India up there and no hills,’ believes a resident of Ribandar who did not want to be quoted.
‘Once we had the river on one side and the forest on the other. Now we only have the river. If given a chance, they would take even the river,’ says the resident in sardonic jest.