Kharghar residents will opt for NOTA to highlight issues

This year, several residents of Kharghar – which falls under the Panvel constituency – have vowed to press the NOTA (None of the above) button in the upcoming Assembly

This year, several residents of Kharghar – which falls under the Panvel constituency – have vowed to press the NOTA (None of the above) button in the upcoming Assembly elections to be held on October 21.

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The Kharghar Taloja Welfare Association (KTWA) is roping in residents to vote for NOTA to draw the authorities’ attention towards the lack of basic amenities in Kharghar that has a population of three lakh.

“Apart from increasing pollution and construction, for the past five years, we have not seen any remarkable development here. Smooth roads is still dream. We want the officials to know that something is wrong with this node. There will be mass NOTA votes from this node,” said Vikas Mane, a member of KTWA.

He said this is their way of highlighting the issues and trying to get them resolved. “We are sure the numbers will make a difference and force authorities to think about the same,” Mane said.

Residents from sectors 12, 20, 34, 35 among others have complained that the node lacks proper roads, streetlights and regular water supply. They also claim that there is no strong candidate to contest the polls.

While sitting MLA Prashant Thakur is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Panvel constituency, Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) have fielded Haresh Manohar Keni.

Despite Kharghar being one of the most developed nodes under the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC), it lacks basic amenities.

Suhash Patil, 40, a Sector 12 resident, said, “Boycotting the democratic process is not an effective solution. We want the government to know that the poor maintenance of the node is not the only issue, but we are also not satisfied with the candidates being fielded for this election.”

City and Industrial development Corporation (Cidco) is the developing authority which looks after basic amenities in the node.

Ramesh Giri, executive engineer, Cidco, said, “The road repair and relaying work was stuck owing to the rains, but now that the rains have receded, the road repair work has started again.”

Shivansh Roy, a Sector 34 resident, said the Taloja road is badly damaged and there have been minor accidents on the stretch.

“The potholes are very huge and we braved these bad roads for the entire monsoon season. The fact that the quality of roads deteriorates so soon is worrying,” Roy said.

He added that the planning body and the local politicians have failed on all fronts and it was time for residents to speak up.

Meanwhile, several residents in Kamothe have decided to boycott the Assembly elections, Amol Shitole, president of Ekta Samajik Sanstha, said, “The roads are bad and many have met with minor accidents. So, we have appealed to people to boycott the polls.”

Cidco officials said that the work of fixing these roads has begun and all areas will be covered soon.