Two friends who went to a small hamlet in forested areas of Shahapur in Thane district for a monsoon trek in August were shocked to find no electricity in a village barely 100 km away from Mumbai. Months later, they returned to the tiny hamlet and helped brighten up the Diwali of the villagers.
It all began with trekking enthusiast Snehal Naik, 25, asking her friend Rudresh Kumar Singh, 25, to accompany her for a trek to Duparmal village, a small inaccessible tribal hamlet in Shahapur block of Thane district.
“When we reached the hamlet with 25 households, we were pained to see that there was no electricity and water in the village. Same was the story in neighbouring Khorgadwadi, barely two km from Duparmal, with 15 households,” said Mr. Singh, who thought of seeking help from the Sri Sri Rural Development Programme (SSRDP), a trust which works with corporates, the government and youths to bring about sustainable change in rural areas.
A week later, Mr. Singh and Ms. Naik returned to the hamlet with SSRDP trustee Deepak Sharma and his team consisting Akshay Joshi, Shruti Nair and Chaitanya Sangwar.
They formed a small team and began working on Dapurmal Solar Project as part of SSRDP’s rural electrification initiatives.
The SSRDP approved and allocated funds for solar electrification, and a month later, they completed the project in Dapurmal and Khorgadwadi villages. Electricity came to 40 homes in the villages for the first time since Independence shortly before Diwali, spreading cheer among the tribals who walk through a five km stretch without a pucca road to reach motorable road in Shahapur.
But, the SSRDP team didn’t want to stop at that. Akshay Joshi, 26, who executed the project, said, “Dapurmal and Khorgharwadi have been electrified now, but we are thinking of electrifying 15 more villages with the help of local gram sabhas and ten more villages in the future. Work will begin post-Diwali on 15 villages, but this Diwali we wanted to give villagers a relief from darkness and illiteracy.”
Deepak Sharma, trustee of SSRDP said, “If villagers lack basic amenities like electricity, water and toilets, how will the villages develop and how will youths stay back in such villages. The basic idea of SSRDP is to create amenities and create sustainable infrastructure in the villages where youth can pursue entrepreneurial activities.”
Ms. Naik, who works with Mr. Joshi in Rupantar consultancy, a firm working with SSRDP in upliftment of tribal lives, said, “Along with solar electricity, we have also installed an e-learning system in the anganwadi so that children can learn and educate themselves.”
The writer is an intern with The Hindu
