Minor landslide cuts Vavurla’s only link to outside world

Canacona: Things have gone from bad to worse for the residents of Vavurla in the Quepem taluka after a portion of the only untarred road connecting the hamlet to the outside world collapsed during heavy rain last week.

Successive govts failed to construct a motorable road for the village, due to which it remained cut off and lacked basic infrastructural facilities. It was only in 2023 that the untarred road, which has now buckled, was built.

Despite the risks, several children from the village have managed to complete their schooling and very few have graduated.

More than 350 villagers tread this 3.5-km-long hilly path every day just to connect to the nearest road in Paddi village some 17km from Vavurla to access public transport to commute to Quepem or Canacona.

Children have to trudge this treacherous road to get to the nearest school in Gaondongrim on the other side of the hill. “This is the biggest hurdle to our children’s education,” said Vavurla local, Rupesh Velip. Fearing their children’s safety, most parents prefer to not send them to school at all, while those who do attend have irregular attendance, resulting in a high dropout rate. The few students who attend classes regularly live with relatives either at Quepem or Canacona.

Construction of the 3.5-km road from Vavurla to Kuddi, Gaondongrim was launched on December 27 last year. A single offer was received in reply to the PWD’s notice inviting tenders, which was ultimately awarded at a cost of over Rs 2 crore. The tender’s conditions required the contractor to complete work within a year.

A 100% tribal-inhabited village under the jurisdiction of the Barcem panchayat, Vavurla has a population of a little over 300 with around 35-40 houses. As the village comes under forest area, restrictions on development activities, particularly road construction, had led to the village remaining virtually cut off from the rest of the state.

In their struggle for survival in the absence of basic facilities, the villagers convert chairs into makeshift stretchers to carry the sick up and down the steep treacherous hilly path, so far this being the only option for the villagers.


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