People of some villages in Dang, Tapi boycott polling

SURAT: People of Davdahad in Dang district boycotted voting for Lok Sabha election on Tuesday to protest against the administration for its failure to build a bridge over Khapri river connecting their village to important centres of the tribal-dominated district.

A seven-year-old girl had died of a snakebite on August 13, 2018 as the ambulance was late in taking her to a hospital. The existing low-level bridge is damaged and it had delayed the ambulance’s arrival. The existing low-level bridge often gets submerged in monsoon season. Villagers were then compelled to cross the river with great difficulty and bring Ravina Mukesh Devsu to the ambulance stationed on the other end. The girl was taken to Ahwa Civil Hospital where she died during treatment.

Of the 467 registered voters in the village, not one exercised his or her right to franchise. The villagers had earlier submitted a memorandum to the district collector demanding the bridge over Khapri river and threatened to boycott the election if it was not sanctioned.

The memorandum says, “The minor girl died of a snakebite and a number of students from the village have to risk their lives to cross the river in the monsoon season every year. The authorities have failed build a bridge for several years now.”

Dang district collector N K Damore said, “The work to construct the bridge started a few months ago, but the contractor just disappeared. The process is on to construct it but the villagers were unhappy and boycotted the election.”

In Tapi district, three villages of Songadh taluka boycotted voting on Tuesday over the construction of a road. A total of 1,260 voters of Juna Amalpada, Budhwada and Juni Kuivel villages abstained from voting.

“On two booths of the three villages, no voting took place. The villagers want a proper road. Election officials tried to convince them on Tuesday, but they refused to vote,” Tapi district collector R S Ninama said.

Both Songadh and Dang are tribal-dominated areas. Dang is a part of Valsad parliamentary constituency while the three villages of Songadh come under Bardoli Lok Sabha constituency.