Raigad Tragedy Sparks Action After Pregnant Woman Loses Baby Due to No Road Access
A heartbreaking tragedy in Malwadi village of Pen taluka, around 100 km from Mumbai, has jolted the local administration into action.
A pregnant tribal woman lost her unborn child after she failed to reach a hospital in time due to non-existent road access. The incident triggered a Jal Samadhi (water immersion) protest by villagers demanding basic amenities — water and roads — denied to them for decades. The protest, led by social activist Santosh Thakur and supported by the Gram Samvardhan Social Organization, saw dozens of residents step into the Bhogavati river, symbolising the depth of their despair. Despite living in independent India for 77 years, the 200-strong tribal population of Malwadi lacks clean drinking water and a single motorable road.
Villagers, especially women, are forced to walk kilometres to fetch water from polluted sources, sacrificing their daily earnings. A ₹45 lakh water supply project under the Jal Jeevan Mission has seen little progress despite being sanctioned two years ago. A new contractor was appointed in December 2023, but villagers claim less than half the work is complete and no official has visited the site. Similarly, a road construction contract issued by the PWD in September 2024 has failed to begin, despite the lapse of its deadline. The inaccessibility of Malwadi directly contributed to the maternal tragedy that sparked public outrage. Initially ignored, the Jal Samadhi protest forced senior officials — including Tehsildar Tanaji Shejal, Group Development Officer Avinash Gharat, and engineers from the PWD and Rural Water Supply Department — to visit the protest site on Tuesday. Authorities assured villagers that water supply would be restored within two days and that road construction would begin by May 16.
Following these promises, Thakur announced a two-day suspension of the protest but warned of office lockouts at the PWD and Water Supply Department if deadlines are missed. For Malwadi’s residents, this is not merely a protest. It is a desperate demand to be seen, heard, and treated with the basic dignity and rights promised to every Indian citizen.
