Muslim families in Vadodara bereft of Water and Electricity

Vadodara: About 130 odd Muslim families, out of over 300 continue to live without water and electricity since they moved in about a month ago in Kapurai, Vadodara, Indian Express reported.

Following the demolition of Muslim-populated Sulemani Chawl as a part of the VMC’s ‘Slum Free Vadodara’ drive, the families were displaced to Kapurai, a major Hindu-populated area in Gujarat.

Even though, they have been allotted homes under the Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme and have received the “letter of possession” from the VMC, they have been living without electricity and water supply.

Of the 318 families evicted from Sulemani Chawl, about 30 are Hindus.

 “The flat allotted to me is on the fourth floor and there is no water supply in the apartment. Every day, they give us water for one hour in the main tank. It would have been better if they had crushed us under the debris of Sulemani Chawl. My Muslim neighbours have been helping me with water every day. And they talk about discrimination,” says Bhagwati, 65, who undergone hip bone degeneration.

Ayesha Shakir Pathan, after the demolition had sought refuge in the graveyard at Memon Colony says, “There is no power or water supply and the homes are unfinished. The workers have been routed to the other wings of the complex while our windows remain bare without panes and unfinished lobbies of the floor. We feel it is a deliberate ploy to frustrate us as the influential forces in the area have been opposing our relocation at Kapurai.”

Earlier in June,  upper caste Hindus, resident of kapurai  opposed the move saying letting Muslims inside will “hamper the peace-loving nature of our locality.”