MNS candidate plays development card in Harsul tribal belt

NASHIK: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) candidate for the Nashik Lok Sabha constituency Pradeep Pawar on Saturday campaigned in the tribal belt of Harsul, located 44 km from the city. With a plethora of problems, Harsul has been one of the most neglected tribal regions in the district.
Be it roads, water problems, power supply, the condition of the 'ashramshalas' or employment issues, Harsul region has virtually not seen any improvement.Though it receives heavy rainfall, the region faces water scarcity because of the lack of dams or water reservoirs. Some regions do not even have power supply for a major part of the day and commuting is an ordeal.
Playing on their original poll plank of 'sons of the soil', the MNS pledged to solve all the major issues of this tribal belt.
"I noticed that the entire water of two rivers in Harsul - Wagh and Daman- flow into neighbouring Gujarat across the border. The entire tribal belt is poorly irrigated. My primary focus will be on constructing dams and irrigation system across these two rivers," said Pawar. "The quality of education in the Ashramshalas is very poor and I would like to improve it," he said.
About the labour force in the region, he said, "The entire labour force in grape gardens comes from this area. I would like to have some kind of training module for them as well as industrial training," said Pawar.
Roads in the interiors of Harsul have not been developed over the years and some are still not tarred.
"The road from Thanapada to Mulwad has been non-existent in the last 66 years. This road is around 22-25 km long. Harsul does not have roads, no infrastructure, power supply problems everywhere but in some areas it is more pronounced. Out of 24 hours there is power supply only for 4-6 hours, particularly in Ozarkhed from where we can see Gujarat border. Drinking water is a major problem despite good rainfall as there are no reservoirs, no water pipelines and the water from the rivers flow to Gujarat. It has been neglected due to lack of political will."
On people's complaint that political leaders only make promises during elections but do no work or even visit the place after elections, Pawar agreed saying that development of this tribal belt would be his focus.