After a gap of nearly 45 years, a Parsi, Sarosh Irani, has been elected unopposed to the Udvada Gram Panchayat (UGP) as deputy sarpanch. Ajay Vashi, a prominent citizen, addressed the gathering to felicitate the new deputy sarpanch at the Panchayat office, saying that the town’s past experience with Parsis has been positive. The last Parsi to hold the post was Sheroo Udwadia. When Vashi’s father was the sarpanch, Udwadia had been his deputy. Several accolades were offered to Irani who has lived in Udvada since 1990 and runs a poultry farm there, which has now expanded to Pardi.
The citizens of Udvada wish to make it the prime town in southern Gujarat. Work that has been going on for Udvada’s betterment over the last 10 years will be continued for the next five years under sarpanch Dharmendra (Rajubhai) Patel, with his team of 12 personnel. Thanks were offered to all those who had withdrawn their nominations, so that this team could be selected. The team took charge on January 23, 2022.
From l: Dastur Khurshed Dastoor, Smriti Irani and Sarosh Irani
Dastur Khurshed Dastoor invoked the blessings of Iranshah that the UGP may achieve what they have set out to do. He reiterated the unique position of the Iranshah not only for Udvada but for all Parsis across the globe.
Parsis have extended support to the Clean Udvada initiative. Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India, who is already committed to the "Clean Pune” initiative, has pledged a truck for garbage collection to the UGP. Mehrwan Godiwala of Ashishwangh Hotel in Udvada has donated an electric bike worth Rs 87,000 to be used for Panchayat work. The current expenditure of Rs 5,000 for petrol will thereby be saved.
Eric Todywala, a resident of Udvada, conveyed to the audience that a team from United Phosphorous Limited (UPL), based in Vapi, had already surveyed the village for mosquito infestation. Their mosquito eradication drive will be in full swing between February and April this year. Water bodies will be cleared to fight this menace. UPL has adopted Udvada from January 26, under their corporate social responsibility scheme. UPL is also planning the beautification of Udvada lake by planting trees which they will maintain. In addition, they will provide new agricultural technology to farmers in Udvada along with some of the latest equipment.
Appreciating all these efforts, Balwant Patel said, "Hoon vinanti karoon choon (I request) all citizens of Udvada to do their bit and not rely solely on the authorities.”
Mehroo Kotval