When a probe took them to a village with no roads, water or electricity, these cops decided to fix something that successive administrations hadn't
Thanks to the police's efforts, the villagers no longer have to drink water from this pond
For the adivasis of Phanaswadi village, some 40 kilometres from Panvel, it is the police who have truly given them achhe din. For the first time, the villagers have clean drinking water, electricity and roads - all thanks to the Panvel Taluka police. Before the cops came round, the locals had to walk 2 km to get clean water, or drink from a dirty green pond in their village.
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The Panvel Taluka police not only brought water to Phanaswadi, but also built roads and ensured they got regular power supply
Phanaswadi is a tiny hamlet with a resident population of just 125 people. Located just 40-odd km from Panvel, the village might as well be 40 years behind. The adivasi residents said they have been living there for at least two generations, but no one from the government had ever tried to reach out to them to provide basic facilities. There wasn't even a road leading to the village.
The police dug a borewell that supplies water for the entire village
Most of the villagers are farmers, whose chief crop is rice. Some of them travel to Panvel for work. Their children started going to school just eight years ago, and only two of the villagers own mobile phones. Most of them cannot afford to buy a phone, and even if they could, they would hardly ever get electricity to charge it. While the village was connected to the power grid, the locals often went without electricity for a week at a time, due to heavy load shedding.
Cops were shocked
Their backward life had come as a shock to the Panvel taluka police as well, who first visited Phanaswadi in September to investigate a case. Senior Inspector Maloji Shinde recalled, "A few months ago, our constables and inspector found a village 40 km away from our police station, which did not have electricity or drinking water. Villagers used to drink from a dirty green pond that would fill up in the monsoon. Otherwise they would walk 2 km to another village to fetch water."
"Some of us went there and we were shocked - how can anyone live like this? We spoke to some of the villagers and noted down all the problems they were facing. I am proud of the tremendous initiative taken by my subordinates to give people these basic amenities," said the cop.
Hard work pays off
The Panvel taluka police adopted Phanaswadi as per a 2017 order from the Director General of Police (DGP), and started work in January. The police formed four teams and allotted different tasks to each of them. The top priorities were to dig a borewell, ensure regular electricity supply, build a road and install a water storage tank. "First, we started by getting financial help for the villagers. Everyone from the police station contributed to the project. Our officers had the extra duty of getting sanction for these works from the concerned agencies. They would go to the spot every day to check the progress," said Shinde.
Digya Budruk, one of the villagers, said, "We got a borewell, which has enough water for the village. The police also built a road, so now vehicles can finally reach our village. Until now, no vehicle could reach our village. Now, thanks to this road, we can request for a bus facility too. Earlier we had to walk 2 km just to get water. We are really thankful to the police."
2 km
Distance the villagers had to walk for water earlier
8
Number of months in which the police transformed the village
Also read: Sunshine story: How Khed village solved drought, poverty by planting trees
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