Maharashtra Minister of Tribal Development Department Vijaykumar Gavit on Friday assured that funds will be made available to solve the problems of tribals residing in Aarey Colony and other issues. He also told the state assembly that a meeting will be held in January with the Chief Minister.
Road conditions in Aarey discussed in assembly
Aarey in Goregaon (East), which falls in the Jogeshwari (East) Assembly Constituency, has 27 tribal padas and non-tribal settlements. There are 45 km of internal roads leading to tribal padas and non-tribal settlements. At present these roads are under the jurisdiction of Aarey administration and are maintained by the Public Works Department.
Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MLA Ravindra Waikar brought to the minister’s notice that Due to the poor road condition number of vehicular accidents has increased to a great extent and the residents are constantly protesting on this issue.
Sena MLA highlights non-issuing of funds
‘’As the Dairy Development Department does not have enough funds for the repair of these roads, it is not possible for the Aarey administration to repair the roads. Therefore, they are continuously following up with the Dairy Development Department to keep the ownership of this road and hand over the responsibility of road repair to the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Despite the fact that meetings have been held with the state government in this regard and correspondence has also been done, yet no concrete decision has been taken regarding the repair of 45 kilometers of internal roads in Aarey,’’ said Waikar.
Waikar said the Aarey administration has sent a proposal of Rs 70 crore for asphalting and cement concreting of about 173 units to the state finance department, but no decision has been taken on this issue yet. Not only this, the Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister had recently agreed to provide funds for the repair of these roads but no funds were yet allocated. He asked when the funds would be made available.
Gavit promises resolution of problems
Waikar said if 27 tribal padas, which are scattered at various places in Aarey, are restyled in one place with all means of livelihood it will be possible to create forest again in those areas.
Gavit, in his response, announced that the allocation of funds will be made to solve the problems faced by tribals in Aarey and also other issues related to Aarey. He pointed out that a decision will be taken at the meeting with the Chief Minister in January.
