Living a nightmare

CAMPAL: Step into the tiny lanes opposite the Panjim Gymkhana that make up ward 11 of the corporation of the city of Panaji (CCP) and you will be excused for forgetting you are in Goa's exalted capital city.
A stone's throw away from Campal's heritage homes, Kala Academy's artistic splendour and the scenic glory of a riverfront city, the area is gut-wrenchingly appalling.
An unhygienic pay toilet opens up to mounds of garbage, open gutters, stray dogs and a spread of about 35 mud-walled houses that the 200 residents here call home.
"It is difficult for us to deal with our civic problems," says resident Arcangela Ribeiro. "Everybody makes promises before getting elected and then promptly forget. So who do we trust to give our votes?" asks the 64-year-old.
Neighbour Belinda Ribeiro lives in a family of three. She says, "All our problems are interconnected; we have no toilets at home. The ones that some of us do have aren't connected to the main sewage pipeline, so everything flows at the back of our homes. The waste is eventually eaten by pigs. This entire process is unhygienic."
Arcangela says that for the elderly like her the walk to the only pay toilet, equally filthy, is deterring and they are left with no option but to defecate "behind bushes or wherever is convenient".
Garbage is the second biggest woe. "The CCP tells us to pay taxes, but what's the point of paying taxes when nobody comes to collect the garbage in the first place?" ask both Ribeiros. The garbage is eventually burned.
"Not only is it an unpleasant sight to see garbage piling up around, it's also an unpleasant experience to walk by it. The situation is absolutely unavoidable as there is garbage in every nook and corner of our area," says Anna Joaquina Ribeiro, 75, another resident.
Flooding during the monsoon is another problem, she recounts. "During the rains the water enters our homes. For an elderly woman like me, it becomes difficult to remove the knee-deep water and sleep."
Residents say the stray dogs in the area are another nightmare and should be removed. With no streetlights, it's a risk to move about once the sun sets. Anna's daughter-in-law was recently attacked by a dog.
"It entered the house in search of food I guess. When my daughter-in-law entered the room, the dog bit her," recalls Anna.
Local ward councillor Sadanand Thakur was unavailable for comments. However, CCP sources say there has never been any representation from the residents to the ward councillor with regard to the problems of garbage and stray dogs.