Hasnal Village: A Victim of ‘Development’ Left in Administrative Darkness!

Hasnal Village: A Victim of ‘Development’ Left in Administrative Darkness!
Exiled despite sacrificing for the Lendi Project; Villagers cry out for Roads, Electricity, and Water.
MUKHED (Representative):
The government’s slogan "Rehabilitation First, Then the Dam" has utterly failed in the case of the Lendi Interstate Irrigation Project. Despite being a project-affected village, Hasnal in Mukhed Taluka remains deprived of basic amenities due to extreme administrative apathy. The residents of Hasnal, who sacrificed their fertile lands and ancestral homes for the dam, are now forced to struggle for basic needs like roads, electricity, and water.
Development on Paper, Destruction on Ground
While the administration claims the Lendi Project is progressing rapidly, the ground reality at the Hasnal rehabilitation site tells a story of neglect. The new settlement lacks proper roads and drinking water facilities. During the monsoon, the area turns into a swamp of mud, making it impossible to transport the elderly or emergency patients to the hospital.
Key Issues and Grim Reality:
* Settlement in Darkness: Although electric poles have been erected at the new rehabilitation site, there are no streetlights or a regular power supply. This has led to a constant fear of snakes and scorpions during the night.
* Miles of Toil for Water: While officials boast about storing water in the dam, they have failed to provide clean drinking water to the women of Hasnal. There is no water supply infrastructure at the new site.
* Deplorable Road Conditions: The main road connecting the highway to the Hasnal rehabilitation site (approximately 4 km) is in ruins. What remains are only pits and dust, posing a severe threat to public health. Adding insult to injury, a large-scale soil auction from the dam site is underway with administrative blessings, further damaging the roads.
* Extreme Administrative Apathy: Despite numerous memorandums and protests at the Mukhed Tehsil office, the administration has only offered hollow promises. Villagers allege that officials are merely "pushing files" from their air-conditioned offices without ever visiting the ground.
"What is Our Crime?" – Villagers Demand Answers
"We gave our fertile 'Mother Earth' and our homes for the nation's development. In return, can we not even get basic water and a road? Are the walls of the dam more important to the administration than our lives?" asks a frustrated project-affected resident of Hasnal.
The question remains: Will the elected representatives and senior administration finally heed the outcry of these project-affected citizens, or will Hasnal continue to remain in darkness and trapped in a world of potholes and neglect?
— Raosaheb Shinde, Member, All India Media Association.