RAIPUR: Deep inside Bastar’s Abujhmarh forests, the sound of water hitting steel utensils is new — and so is its taste. For the first time, clear drinking water flows from taps inside homes in this once Maoist-shadowed village Nelangur, replacing years of silence, scarcity and fear with something as simple as a sip of clean water.
Until recently, tucked near Maharashtra border, village Nelangur was defined by its distance — 52 km from the “highly sensitive” district headquarters, across rugged terrain where even basic services struggled to reach. Women would walk miles each day to fetch water, often navigating forest paths that were once fraught with risk. Today, that daily grind has been replaced by a simple act: turning on a tap. Narayanpur collector Namrata Jain said that a water supply system has been set up in the village under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Water is being lifted from the source using a solar pump and supplied directly to homes through pipelines. This has reduced dependence on electricity and ensured steady supply.The change comes in the backdrop of a broader transformation sweeping Bastar after the decline of Left-Wing Extremism.“Nelangur was among the areas where delivering basic services was once a major challenge. Now, we are seeing the results of consistent efforts to bring these villages into the developmental mainstream,” said collector Jain.
Improved access has also led to better hygiene practices — a quiet but significant change in public health.The transformation of Nelangur is part of a larger story unfolding across Abujhmarh — once a Maoist stronghold where governance had little physical presence. The establishment of a joint security camp by ITBP and state police last year marked a turning point, followed by improved connectivity, including a bus service linking the village to Narayanpur under the ‘Mukhyamantri Bus Seva’ scheme.With peace returning to the region after decades of insurgency, development has begun to fill the vacuum. Roads, water, transport and basic services are now reaching places that once existed beyond the state’s administrative map.In Nelangur, the tap is not just a utility, it is a signal that the distance between the state and its remotest citizens is finally narrowing.
