A three-hour drive away from 'Smart city', village in Maha gets electricity for first time

The city of Thane near Mumbai may have recently become part of the much-touted Smart Cities initiative. But in what is a stark indicator of disparity in development levels, a village which till last year was a part of the same Thane district recently got electricity for the first time since independence, according to a report in The Times of India .

The village of Haidoli in Jawhar taluka, has finally got access to electricity, not as a result of a burst of a government initiative, but because of the efforts of the villagers themselves. The villagers were backed by a local NGO-Pragati Pratishthan- and a bank, according to The Times of India report.

Electricity has changed life in the village, which is part of a remote tribal belt not far from Mumbai, in ways which the more fortunate of us would not imagine. For example, people do not now have to walk for two hours to fetch drinking water, and the incidence of snake bites in the village has gone down substantially, according to The Times of India report.

A report on the project in the taluka pointed out that electrification also led to a reduction in the use of kerosene use, and therefore of smoke and carbon.

The report said that the project was undertaken because chances of getting electricity through the regular grid were less because of the geographical location. An initial interaction with villagers showed that they were willing to set up a community level project, and that they were willing to take ownership of operations and maintenance.

Electricity is not the only aspect in which the tribal pockets near Thane stand out in contrast to the metropolitan areas close by. The taluka of Jawhar, which is now part of the newly-carved out Palghar district, is among the areas which have seen widespread prevalence of malnutrition and even malnutrition-related deaths. A DNA report of July 2013 had highlighted the condition of this region, pointing out that 18 malnutrition-related deaths were seen in Jawhar between April and June in 2013.

Among the reasons mentioned by government authorities are the topography of the area, early marriages and lack of education.