Raigad: Decades of government neglect, a worsening water crisis, and the tragic death of an unborn child finally pushed the tribal villagers of Malwadi in Pen Taluka to take an extreme step on Tuesday — a Jal Samadhi (water immersion) protest in the Bhogavati river.
Located just 100 km from Mumbai, Malwadi remains cut off from basic development even 77 years after India’s independence. The absence of a proper road and drinking water supply has forced tribal residents to live under harsh and unsafe conditions. Recently, a pregnant woman lost her unborn child after she couldn’t reach the hospital in time — a tragedy directly linked to the lack of road access.
In response to this systemic failure, villagers led by social activist Santosh Thakur and the Gram Samvardhan Social Organization entered the river to demand urgent action. Their key demands: a functional water supply system and a long-delayed road.
Women in the hamlet trek up to two kilometers daily to collect water — either from a contaminated pond in Shitolewadi or from a forest pit a kilometer away, often before sunrise. A ₹45 lakh water project under the Jal Jeevan Mission, sanctioned two years ago and re-awarded in December 2023 to contractor Satish Sudhakar Gharat, remains incomplete. Villagers allege that neither the contractor nor government engineers have ever visited the site.
A similar story surrounds the road project. The Public Works Department (PWD) issued a work order on September 19, 2024, to Rameshwar Construction, with a six-month deadline. That deadline has passed, yet no work has begun. Villagers say the project exists only on paper.
Initially, the administration remained silent. But as protestors entered the water, local officials sprang into action. Pen Tehsildar Tanaji Shejal, Group Development Officer Avinash Gharat, engineers from the Zilla Parishad’s Rural Water Supply Department — Ravi Pachpor and Ramesh Rathod, along with PWD Engineer Damodar Patil, rushed to the site.
Tehsildar Shejal assured protestors that:
*A permanent water supply system would be operational within two days, and
*Road construction would begin on May 16.
Following this assurance, Santosh Thakur announced a two-day suspension of the protest. But he issued a strong warning: if the promises are not fulfilled, the offices of the PWD and Rural Water Supply Department will be locked in protest.
The demonstration drew widespread support from the community. Among the protestors were Mansi Patil, Nanda Mhatre, Sachin Gawand, Vishal Pawar, Kishor Patil, Sunita Patil, Kalpana Pawar, Manisha Waghmare, Tai Waghmare, Parvati Damodar Naik, Somi Waghmare, and Shankar Waghmare, along with hundreds of tribal men and women.
For Malwadi, the protest marks a turning point — not just for infrastructure, but for visibility and justice long denied. Now, all eyes are on whether the promises made will translate into reality.
