💞🕉🚩🇳🇪 Exploring the Estuarine island in Middle of Vasai creek - Panju Bandar (Islands) : The highest number of Freedom Fighters (21) came from Panju, a small village situated on an island in Vasai, Maharashtra , Hindustan(Bharat / India) 💐🙏

💞🕉🚩🇳🇪 Exploring the estuarine island in middle of Vasai creek - Panju island, Panju Bandar ( Islands) as a neighbourhood in the larger context of Vasai ( Nr Mumbai city ) 

The highest number of freedom fighters (21) came from Panju, a small village situated on an island in Vasai, state Maharashtra , Hindustan (Bharat / India) 💐🙏

Panju island is a small piece of green land with some houses in middle of Vasai creek which one gets a glimpse of while passing by in local train or when travelling on western line towards Gujarat. This piece of land lies between Bhayander and Naigaon station on western line of Mumbai local rail network. Panju island is an estuarine island in Vasai creek accessible by a small boat ride from Naigaon jetty, This is the only way to enter the island. When I first read about it briefly in some article published in a newspaper, I was quite intrigued by the story about its heritage and the contribution of this village in Indian freedom struggle. It was on my bucket list since two years which I finally had a chance to visit recently.

Panju is an ancient village, It is said that legendary Maratha commander Chimaji Appa, younger brother of Peshwa Bajirao used to carry out monetary transactions from this island. He had wrested control of Vasai fort from Portuguese. The island lies on the south side of Vasai fort and ramparts of the fort can be seen from here. Even in India's freedom struggle, island has given 21 freedom fighters, the highest in Thane district and this was when village population was just 300 people. 

Interesting thing about the island is it has zero pollution for there are no cars on the island, It has best statistics with regards to sex-ratio and newer generations has 100 percent literacy. The village is predominantly inhabited by farming community of Aagris who were once involved in salt pan works on the island as well as sand dredging and fishing. But with ban on sand dredging, villagers have taken job outside the village.

As one lands on the island after a small boat ride from Naigaon what welcomes us is a monument displaying names of 21 freedom fighters from the village. The Vasai Pragati co-op credit branch proudly displays its board that "It is a fully computerised branch". It is the only bank branch on the island.

The streets here are so narrow that one can pass stuffs from one house to another without having to step out of the house. Few houses display old construction like stone walls and display the characteristic arch windows and doors but most of village houses are new constructions.

While exploring the streets of the village, one noticeable thing was villagers ever smiling and welcoming face.

One of the villager I talked to was more than happy to share information on the life in the village today. The village got piped water only in 1983, prior to that small village pond was used for daily water needs from ancient times. When the village population grew, water was brought in huge cans by local trains passing over an old British era bridge which touched the island. The motormen would halt for a unofficial stop for few seconds when water cans would be unloaded from the train. The British era bridge can still be seen though it is abandoned today. Today they have sufficient water supply supplied by municipal body through water pipes.

The village only got electricity supply in 1989, 42 years after independence. There is a monument erected near an old Hanuman temple compound which displays the date when foundation was laid to bring electricity to the village. The water supply and electricity was possible mainly due to village sarpanch for 37 years who toiled hard to get these infrastructure to the island village.

Another interesting thing about the village is, it is situated on a height above sea level hence irrespective of heavy rains and flooding that may occur in main land Mumbai. The village has never got flooded, rain water drains easily in the creek.

The village has an old Hanuman temple and secondary school where village kids study till 10th std. Another villager whom I met in the temple was kind enough to give me a tour of the temple which housed a Doctors dispensary and a community hall on the first floor. The old temple structure has been extended to include the newer addition. An old stone smeared in vermilion lie in the temple sanctum which was worshiped from ancient time.

Beyond the Hanuman temple lies few bigger houses with their own gardens which is used to grow different vegetables, for own consumption as well as to be sold in the market. We were invited to see  one of these home garden by a village lady who gave us a brief about different vegetables and flowering plants in her garden. One unique flowering plant in her garden was called "Lal Komda" flower due to its resemblance to male hen's comb.

There is a another smaller shrine outside the village on the way to the village pond. The idol was not that of any god or a goddess but a old wooden shaft covered in a cloth. Probably it was a shrine of "gram devta" or "village god".

The village pond is a place where the village ladies still come to wash their clothes and gossip. An ancient round stone lay near the pond. Beyond this point there is huge land parcel some portion of which is farming land, some salt pans while remaining is covered with mangroves and hardy forest. The villager I met earlier had informed that there is a proposal to start agro tourism to attract visitors and also connect the island to Bhayander suburb by constructing another jetty. 

Panju is a true cradle of nature. A self sufficient and zero pollution island close to city of Mumbai. The island has lot of potential to be developed into tourist spot maintaining the fine balance with nature. Being an estuarine island in the creek it also attracts birds during winters. If one wants to get a peep into the islanders way of life, This is a perfect weekend destination.

Panju (Island) village is located in the Vasai creek, positioned between western railway’s Naigaon & Bhayandar stations. It is an ancient village. All the monetary transactions were carried from this village at the time of Shri Chimaji Aappa. The Village has given pivotal contribution in India’s Freedom fighting campaign. It has given twenty three freedom fighters and stands first in Thane district as far as its capacity of population is concerned. Area of Panju Island is around 600 acres, Aagri community dwells here. Main profession of the community is farming, fishing, salt farming & manual sand evacuations by tradition. There's a primary school as well as Government recognized secondary school.

Vasai in particular is an agglomeration of several small and big villages. Apart from the 27 villages in Vasai that have chosen to stay in their respective Panchayats, all the other villages are a part of the Vasai- Virar Mahanagarpalika since July 2009. One of these 27 villages is Panju- an estuarine island situated in the Vasai creek.The island is disconnected from the main Vasai city due to its geographical location which makes it difficult to access. The island is home to an entire village called the ‘Panju Gaon’ consisting of a population of 1365 people and a total of 350 homes. 

Low connectivity to the railway station and other means of transport, lack of literacy, absence of other amenities and growing corruption and monopolisation in the village administration has made this village a hub of civic and political problems.

Methodology:

While studying Vasai as a town and its problems, there is an attempt to study Vasai in general and Panju in particular as a specific neighbourhood. The methodology used is mostly Interviews (of people in Panju), survey of secondary sources (newspaper articles, internet articles), and Observation.

While we look at Vasai and the issues in this particular neighbourhood it would be a huge mistake to exclude places like Panju Bandar that are not only sights of contestations but are also victims of the politics of exclusion in our country. In spite of its large contribution to the nationalist movement and its great historic heritage during the Maratha regime the place remains disconnected from the mainstream even today. 

Demography and geographical location:

Panju is literally an island that lies in the Vasai creek. The island is used by the Western Railway to connect the island of Salsette to the mainland of Vasai. It is located at 19.333°N 72.85°E with a maximum elevation of 1 m (3 ft.). The population of Panju as per the 2011 census was 1365.Panju has found a special place in the census report as one of the villages in Maharashtra with optimum population levels due to controlled birth rate.

Problems with respect to transportation:

Owing to such geographical positioning people in Panju are subjected to several adverse conditions with respect to daily commute. Till the early 90s there was absolutely no means of transport for people living here. They had to walkthrough and unused railway track from Bhayander that passes Panju. People who went out to work in different parts of Mumbai had to board a Virar train and get down at Bhayander or Naigaon station from where they would have to walk 45 and 30 minutes respectively to reach home. Then in the 1990s a small ferry boat was started by the villagers from Naigaon port to make things easy. But this did not completely solve the issue. Devendra Bhoir a resident of Panju islands  

Frequently the service of the boat gets suspended due to heavy rains and wind. 

 Further, to get down at Jetty is again a difficult task, as boat gets stuck up in the shallow marshes around 60100 feet far from Jetty. In this situation, you have to get down in three to  four small boats and hip-hop between them to reach the main boat, during this manoeuvre, there are good chances of falling in the marshland. On several such occasions visitors as well as women and students fall in the marshes. In such cases, the total travelling time from  Naigaon jetty to the Panju jetty takes 30 to 60 minutes. In this condition to carry patients, pregnant women and carry goods are further a tricky task.”

There is an urgent of increasing the length of Panju Jetty. But neither the local body nor the district and port authorities are willing to undertake the work on an urgent basis. Also  people who miss the last ferry that leaves the Naigaon Bandar at 9pm have to walk through the bridge during the night in order to reach home. The residents of Panju have been demanding a cement concrete bridge to solve all their worries but everybody from the  politicians to the administration is turning a deaf ear to their needs.

Social composition of Panju:

Residents of the island are a homogenous group consisting of the Agri community with Bhoir and Patil as common surnames here. 

“Apart from the two Christian families who live here all the original inhabitants of the island are Agris. Now people who are into the  sand evacuation business have hired men from West Bengal ” confirmed the newly elected village Sarpanch Mr. Ashish Bhoir. However after further interrogation with others in the village it was revealed that several men who work in the sand evacuation business are Bangladeshi migrants. They allegedly had fake Indian Aadhar cards but this could not be confirmed because the men stated that they were from West Bengal and denied revealing more about their family background. Festivals and traditional rituals like marriages and naming ceremonies are celebrated together mostly in the community hall of the village. Hanuman Jayanti and Ganesh Chaturthi are the two festivals that are celebrated by the entire village.

Achanak Kala Krida Mandal is a group of youngsters that organises various competitions in the village each year and is actively involved in volunteering during the festivals.

Economic profile and occupational problems:

Most people in Panju were originally subsistence farmers or in the sand business and economically belonged to the lower middle class. However like other parts of Vasai people who had ancestral lands in different parts of the town sold them in the past few years. This is the reason why some people are considerably well off and their next generation is mostly in the service sector. The main occupation of people here is sand evacuation. However with the ban in the sand mining they had to lose their business. Dharmendra Bhoir who is in the Sand Business said-“I am not educated. This is all I know and I can do. If I go out I would have to work as a daily wage labourer with a meagre 200-300 per day.” People like him who had the money still continue working underground as they pay haftas  to all the middlemen and government officials each day. Most evacuations done even today are manual and are not equipped with the new suction pumps. Salt farming which was the second most important occupation of people in Panju also came under the government radar after the Zilla parishad alleged that people who possessed salt pans should return them to the government as they were only on lease. There were no evidences to prove this stand and people who practiced the occupation for over 90 years struggled to make ends meet after work came to a standstill. False rumours were raised when  people denied to give their lands stating that the salt produced here was not iodised and thus not fit for consumption. 

Business fell flat after companies buying salt withdrew and people had to bear the  brunt of it.

 “Locals here have been consuming the same salt and there isn’t a single case of goitre reported in the past several years”confirms Dr. Shyam Jungare a medical officer working in the primary healthcare centre at Panju. Apart from Navamukh a salt pan owned by Mrs Malti Patil all the other salt pans in the village are sold to private firms. In order to make its women economically self-sufficient there are more than 11 Bachat Gats (Self-Help groups) operating here. This has made housewives more independent and has encouraged the habit of saving money.

Political profile:

Like in the other parts of Vasai the Jan Andolan which is a group of independent candidates from Vasai is dominant in Panju. Mr. Ashish Bhoir is currently the village Sarpanch since a year. His paternal uncle was the Sarpanch for 37 years before he elected him. Panju ranks well in terms of political awareness. When people were asked the details of the ruling political party the current Sarpanch and the Ex- Sarpanch people had complete knowledge of the same. Also most people were well read and seem to be following the national politics. There are 1000 voters in the village and most people have Aadhar cards. People on the condition of anonymity said that they were not very happy with the way in which the village administration works. Even when Kunda Bhoir a woman candidate was elected things did not change much because

“She was merely a signatory authority”as per most villagers. People in Panju lament over the monopoly of one family over all the decisions made in the village. They have the necessary economic and social capital and people do not dare to oppose their leadership. But they all wish that the next elections would bring in a change in the leadership and solve their issues. 

Developmental parameters:

The case of Panju is an excellent example of development on several parameters like health and population control in spite of having several odds against them.

“People are by and large aware of the importance of personal cleanliness and hygiene as  per Dr. Jungare. 

But what they still lack is social hygiene. They keep their houses clean but do not think before spitting in public spaces. Infectious diseases are rare because the place is relatively far from the polluted town. 

Periodic health check- ups and blood donation camps arranged for the villagers from time to time. Some great achievements of the village include zero child mortality rate, excellent sex ratio and low maternal mortality rate.”

Waste disposal and sewage disposal are major concerns in the village. The community toilets are not well maintained and there are only two places for garbage disposal in the entire village. People empty their garbage bins in the sea which has polluted the waters. This has endangered the aquatic life as a result of which fishing as an occupation is no more  practiced here. The very fact that Panju is disconnected from the mainstream in all respects is largely responsible for certain basic issues people face in the village. The village streetlights hardly work. Complaints in this regard are not taken seriously mainly because the village is not a  part of the Vasai- Virar Municipal Corporation. Summers are marked by frequent load shedding. Most villagers are tradition bound and have certain misconceptions about technology in general. They think that mobile towers would harm them and thus there are  problems regarding mobile networks and internet connectivity. On the plus side however is the village library which has received an ‘A’ in the accreditation of the Zilla Parishad with a total of 6900 books. Also the village has a gymnasium and a recreation centre. The gymnasium trains several body builders each year. Every year the Vasai Shree (gold medal for the best body builder in Vasai) goes to men in Panju. 

We are very proud of the way these children train their bodies. This is a costly profession but they somehow manage to excel with their hard work and dedication” said Prabhakar Bhoir the village Ex-Sarpanch.

Educational scenario:

When it comes to education Panju lies far behind as compared to the rest of Vasai. People are literate but not well educated barring a few exceptions. The village primary school is 100 years old. In the absence of a secondary school in the village and adverse geographical conditions many people couldn’t study beyond class 5.Some families sent their children to schools and colleges outside the village. However after a girl from the village was molested and later murdered on the railway bridge near Panju the village administration was shaken. Mr Devendra Bhoir and his wife Madhuri Bhoir from the village started a secondary school in 2000 with some financial aid from Mr Walia's Sun Pharma.“The murder of this student from the village raised several questions over the safety of  students especially girls who were compelled to go out of the village in the absence of a  secondary school here. We took it upon ourselves to build a secondary school in the village itself. We raised funds from the Vidya Pratishthan Pune and Sun Pharma. However within a  year after the school started, the school was denied a grant because we did not have 30  students in each class- the minimum requirement for grant application. This was the beginning of a tough road ahead,” says Mr. Devendra who juggles between the school work and his full time job as a pathologist in SRL diagnostics, Parel. They had to face several obstacles including false allegations of corruption by the Sarpanch.“The Sarpanch is on the school board, but the moment he realised that the school is not getting any grant, they lost interest. Being a woman and running the school all by myself is a tough task. People tried pulling me down at several times but over the time they have realised the importance of education. But people are still not ready to spend one extra penny for their children’s education. They will spend on festivals and parties but not on school fees. Today the minimal fees that the school gets is the only source of income ”says Madhuri his wife and the headmistress of the school. Running a school on such low earnings without any financial aid is a tough task. The couple puts their own hard earned money into the school to make ends meet.

 The revised guidelines for a minimum 20 students for grant application came as a ray of hope for the couple. They are now struggling to get a grant for the secondary school. But while this is true the bitter truth is the falling number of students each year owing to low  population and lack of apathy towards education among people. In such a case the future of the school remains uncertain. If they fail to get students by the next year they might have to shut the school altogether.

Conclusion:

World outside Panju including people in and around Vasai see it as a deserted island.

 People there should ideally vacate the place because it is a place full of environmental hazards, in case of heavy rains there are chances of flooding” said a Vasai resident Nitin Mhatre. The website on Vasai- Virar has a small paragraph on the island which also sees it as a space that is inaccessible and full of danger. It is largely because of these widespread myths that the village and people there in particular have not been able to mingle with the larger communities outside the village. Panju deserves media attention for its achievements in spite of all the odds pitted against the village. Also development would be simpler if there is  political will regarding the same. While talking about the development of a particular locality it is obvious that the whole discourse of development itself becomes a narrow one. While it is understood that in every society the lesser powerful elements are excluded from the mainstream there are always demands for safeguarding their rights. The case of Panju is not disturbing only due to its separate existence from the mainstream but also raises several concerns that have to be addressed many decades after independence.

How to reach: 

 Shared ricks are available from Naigaon station which charges Rs 9 for one way ride to the Jetty. There is only one old boat which chugs between Naigaon jetty and the island from 6 am to 10 pm. Boat ride is only for 10 minutes and charges Rs 10 for return ride.

Jai Hind Jai Maharashtra 💐🙏

Bharat Mata Ki Jai 💐🙏

Santoshkumar B Pandey at 6.02 PM.