Kanta Chintaman Baraf, a 19-year-old woman in Palatpada village, 50km from Thane, was deprived of education as the nearest school from her village was more than 80 minutes away and needed crossing a 1km-long pond.
She dropped out of school that is in Usgaon Village across the Usgaon Pond when she was in Class 9 as there were no boats to row her to school.
At present, five years after she has left school, Baraf has bought a boat and started a free rowing service for all the children of her village only to ensure that none of them have to drop out of school like her.
The Palatpada village, which falls under Ganeshpuri Gram Panchayat in Bhiwandi, is deprived of all the basic facilities.
When Baraf was in Class 9, there were only five to six boats that went from Palatpada to Usgaon. Most of the time, these boats were missing. When Baraf could not find a boat, she had to walk along the edges of the pond where the water was not too deep to reach the other side.
Baraf said, “There was no road and the way to school was mucky. I also had to wade through water. After all this, I used to reach school late fully drenched. So, my teachers used to ask why I was late and wet daily. I finally quit, tired of the daily ordeals.”
Merely 25 families reside in this small hamlet of Palatpada and they are dependent on agriculture and fishing. The Usgaon Pond is one of the sources of fishing business that helps the tribals sell fish in Ambadi and Ganesh Puri markets. For this, they have to cross the Usgaon Pond.
Baraf expressed that even those who are sick or pregnant have to be ferried on boats. “My father died due to blood cancer. He was the sole breadwinner of the family. We had to ferry him on the boat for treatment. In the dark, it was not possible to cross the pond and return. There are snakes in the water and we are scared of them.”
She has two sisters who are married and two younger brothers. The responsibility of her family fell on her shoulders after her father’s death. She took up farming but reaching the village for supplies was difficult, so she bought a boat. Baraf is not sure when she learned to row but it was when was very young.
“There are no schools or anganwadis in our village and we have to cross the river to reach the school. After I had to drop out of school, I decided to help the children to ensure that they went to school every day and were not deprived of education. I have a boat and now use it to drop these children to the village school and also bring them back home,” Baraf added.
There are 22 students in Palatpada village. The timing of the Primary school is 9am to 1pm while Secondary school timing is from 10am to 5pm. Baraf has to make four rounds to ferry the students. It takes 40 minutes from Palatpada to Usgaon village via boat.
Promod Pawar, spokesperson of Shramjivi Sanghatna, said, “There is not even any basic infrastructure facility such as road, electricity, primary health centre and primary school in this hamlet. Children should at least have an anganwadi here so they are not deprived of education.”
Milind Kamble, a resident of the adjoining Ganeshpuri village who works at the health, said, “The villagers put their lives at risk to cross the pond via boat during heavy rains. They leave the village in the morning for work but fear crossing the pond after dark as there is no electricity. If anyone suffers from any serious illness at midnight, they have to wait until the morning.”
Pradeep Ghorpade, Block Development Officer of Zilla Parishad, said that they have asked the Ganeshpuri Gram Panchayat to give them a report on the village situation. He said, “After receiving the report, we will send it to the government to ensure development of the village.”