SGNP residents stay forest-bound

Similarly, residents from about 1,000 households in Chunnapada and Tungipada continue to trudge 12 km to the market on foot, negotiating stretches of dense forest inhabited by man-eating panthers and leopards. Tourist traffic to the historic Kanheri Caves, built between the 1st century BC and 9thcentury AD, has also shrunk to less than a quarter of the usual flow but the Forest Department claims it does not have the funds to repair the road.

Explains Chhaya, a Std IV student in the municipal school near Borivali station, “Now, all I do is stare at my books, which are gathering dust at home.” Her classmate and neighbour Anand Patil is a little more busy. With plenty of time on his hands, he works as a domestic help with a family at Borivali (W).

“The children’s education is badly affected. Even if the BEST resumes its bus service after a while, the children may still lose a year,” remarks Dinkar Pokhare, a resident. Kachru Kiritikar, a chowkidar with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), winces as he recalls the appendix operation he underwent in July. The pain in his abdomen has almost ceased but the walk through the jungle is twice as painful. “I have to trudge 12 km to visit a doctor or buy medicines at Borivali,” he told Express Newsline.

The women, who say they have beengoing to the market at Borivli in groups, reveal that they have to hire private tempos to ferry the provisions back on the return journey. This entails an additional expenditure of Rs 150 per trip, they say.

Even though the stretch of road that prompted the BEST to cancel its bus service, is not more than three kilometers, the Forest Department claims it cannot afford the repairs. Deputy Conservator of Forests, A R Bharthi, told Express Newsline that conservative estimates peg the cost of repairs at Rs 12 lakh. The BEST, for its part, says it could be another three months before the bus service is resumed. Till then, the 100-odd children can put their books away.