Matheran Yearns for a Knight in Shining Armour
A colourful train chuffs as it climbs the first leg of the steep Western Ghats, making its way across lush forests, passing unkempt medieval mansions and Matheran’s iconic horseback taxis.
Over time, Matheran is slowly losing its British summer retreat charm, simultaneously even its devout customer base, primarily as a result of the pandemic.
Matheran is a small hill station 60km from Mumbai. It’s 5,000 residents are solely dependent on tourism for survival. In a year, it has only about 100 business days - long weekends in addition to the school-calendar vacations thrice a year. All of its basic necessities are sourced from Neral, the nearest town. With no tourists due to Covid, the horse-town is completely paralysed.
The minimum daily maintenance of a horse costs Rs. 500.
Vikas Arvind Ranjhane, 36, a fourth-generation horse owner, said, “Pre-pandemic, owners and keepers were able to bear the high transportation costs to feed their horses chickpeas, carrots, beets, a variety of millets and vitamin supplements if the need be”. Today, most horses are overworked and fed only the bare minimum.
For nearly two years, due to the pandemic, the horses were kept tied in the stables for a prolonged time, fed enough, but had little physical activity. As a result, Matheran’s horse community lost at least 15 horses to colic.
“We bury our horses like we bury our own. These horses are family”, said Ranjhane.
Horses and their keepers toil up and down the hill, ferrying tourists to and fro, at least four times a day during peak business.
Additionally, basic infrastructure development is desperately needed in Matheran. Hand cart pullers lug the weight of commodities for the town or even people and their luggage, bare foot, grunting in unison to subdue the sting of the rocks beneath.
In an attempt to develop those roads while simultaneously aiming to curb the red-soil erosion in the monsoon season year-on-year, “the government sanctioned funds for the paths in Matheran to be paved with hand-made, clay blocks. But the contractors put machine-made blocks instead. Although they’re priced similar to clay blocks, these machine-made blocks have a shorter manufacturing process, therefore they’re more readily available”, said Irfaan Wali Mohammad Sheikh, 30, a second-generation horse owner. These machine-made blocks are rock-hard with poor grip, making the path extremely slippery, threatening to cause severe injury for both horses as well as cart pullers.
Although Matheran has a well-equipped veterinary hospital, the government- appointed vet walks in only twice a month, and he’s usually only confident of a cow’s anatomy. Therefore, the owners and keepers, with generational experience, manage basic first-aid and medication for their horses themselves.
“Matheran is the step-child of the Maharashtra Government”, says Rajesh Vasant Chowdhary, President of Matheran Vyaapari Welfare Association.
Due to Matheran’s topography, the rainwater directly flows down the hillside, leaving the town without the capacity of building an effective water harvesting system. Yet, Matheran pays some of the highest water charges in India. The residential slab in Matheran, among seven other slabs, is Rs. 47 per thousand litres, while neighbouring Mumbai city pays a mere Rs. 5.22 per thousand litres.
While everyone in the country gets the LPG cylinder at the government cost, people in Matheran pay Rs.1049.50/ 14.2kg, without subsidy.
“We are maintaining this eco sensitive zone, yet the government refuses to show us any respite”, said Chowdhary. If the government cannot provide battery operated vehicles for Matherans locals, they can at the very least decrease the water charges, decrease the electricity charges, decrease the fuel prices.
