The last of the Pyaakas
A lonely wind moans eerily through empty houses and deserted streets, rattling a broken window here, a halfhinged door there: 350 people once lived here. Today, 35 km from Mandvi, Pyaaka is a ghost village.
But Navrang Shanushali chose to stay. "Our village is 5 km from the nearest market. There is no approach road. In the monsoons, we are marooned. Phir bhi, hamara gaon gokuliya tha (and yet, our village was as nice as Gokul), because we had water," he reminisces about the times when the fields were green.
-4 But then, groundwater was overexploited, and soon the wells dried up. In the early '80s, villagers gradually began leaving, mostly for Bombay. By 1990, only Navrang and his 2 goats were left.
But Iperhaps the wait is now over. A kitometre from Pyaaka, the air is thick with dust as 2 tractors work on the bund of a small check-dam being constructed with the VRTI's assistance. Says Navrang, "The dam will recharge the underground aquifers. io 8hanushali Our wells will have water again. And hopefully, people will return.
Leeladar Bhanushali, 56, who left Pyaaka 40 years ago, shares Navrang's optimism. He is one of the many emigres who met the VRTI representatives in "We all contributed a few thousand rupees. We are doing well in Bombay. But if we get water here, some people will return," he says.