Chandrayaan-3’s glory season might have taken over the headlines, but for a group of young students in Maharashtra’s Bhiw Dhanora village, crossing a reservoir on flimsy thermocol rafts while fending off water snakes has become a daily adventure to reach school. Prajakta Kale, just 11 years old, and 15 of her fellow schoolmates make this daring journey across the backwaters of the Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad district.
The children use thick thermocol sheets as rafts and fashion makeshift oars to navigate the approximately one-kilometer stretch of water. “We carry bamboo sticks or makeshift oars to fend off water snakes that climb onto the thermocol sheet as we navigate our way,” explains Prajakta.
Their journey is a response to the geographical reality that one section of the dam’s backwaters has cut their village into two parts, a situation that has persisted for 47 years since the dam’s construction. Despite the challenges, the children, equipped with determination and their makeshift rafts, have been attending school regularly.
Vishnu Kale, Prajakta’s father, expresses his concern: “I do not want my children to remain illiterate like me. So, my daughter and son use the thermocol sheets to get to school. It becomes daunting due to the presence of venomous snakes in the water.” The headmaster of the school, Rajendra Khemnar, confirms the students’ risky daily journey.
The village, located around 40 km from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and barely 5 km from the Aurangabad-Pune highway, is surrounded by the Jayakwadi dam backwaters and the Shivna and Lahuki rivers. The lack of a bridge over the Lahuki river forces the children to undertake this challenging commute. If they don’t row across the backwaters, they are faced with a grueling 25 km walk through muddy land.
The villagers have been appealing for a bridge over the Lahuki river to alleviate the situation. The village’s sarpanch, Savita Chavan, highlights that the issue has been raised with the district administration and they are awaiting a decision.
Local Gangapur tehsildar, Satish Soni, conducted a visit to the area and “prepared a report.” He explains that during the construction of the Jayakwadi dam, the entire village was rehabilitated. However, a few families chose to remain on their farms, resulting in their children having to navigate the backwaters daily.
This issue has also been brought up in the Maharashtra assembly. MLC Satish Chavan raised the concern, and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis addressed it by stating that the village “gets divided during monsoon due to the increased water levels.” As the students continue their resilient journey, the plea for a bridge to ensure their safety remains an urgent need in Bhiw Dhanora village.
