Yagnesh Mehta TNN
Uchhal: Though 67, Surji Vasava’s presence at any government office in Uchhal taluka is enough to send chill down the spine of the officials. He has helped 13 villages of Uchhal to get regular water supply by filing applications under Right to Information Act (RTI).
“I want to get young again. Despite working for so many years for the tribals, I could not do much. However, with RTI I can make a lot of difference,” says Vasava of Mohini village in Uchhal taluka. Vasava had asked in an RTI application to the water supply board about overhead water supply tanks in villages of the taluka. “The most important question was how many of them are working,” he adds.
“Like always, the government officials were reluctant to reply to the question and I had to appeal to the appellate authority at Vadodara. Fortunately before the hearing at the appellate authority, I got a response from the local office which informed that 10 tanks were operational and 13 non-operational,” says Vasava.
In his application, Vasava had also inquired by when the non-operational tanks will become functional. The office had replied that within two months all the tanks would be repaired which were not in use because of faulty electric pumps.
“The repair work started and majority of the tanks were operational,” says Vasava, who has studied till old SSC. Vasava throughout his life had fought for the rights of the tribals. Vasava had sought the information under RTI due to water scarcity in the region. The residents of the villages of Uchhal taluka have no source of regular water supply and the situation turns worse in the summer months.
“It is an issue affecting thousands of life in the tribal region of Tapi district. So Surjibhai thought of using RTI to fight for water and succeeded,” says Rajesh Valvi, an RTI counsellor at Shakti – Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre.
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