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A team of Border Security Force (BSF) jawans in Dandakvan region of Chhattisgarh laid a 1,200 feet long pipeline to make sure that water reaches the villagers in Anjrel and Raoghat. Villagers in these Maoist-hit areas had to walk for about 12km everyday to get drinking water before the BSF men came to their rescue, in a completely non-official assignment.

Working in Raoghat, located in Antagarh tehsil of Kanker district, was very difficult and dangerous for the team.

Picture for representation only. Source: Nupur Das Gupta/Flickr

Even walking around is not safe because bombs and land mines have been installed after every few meters. Recently, three people including an armed official lost their lives in a pressure bomb explosion. But the BSF men risked their lives and completed the work in about a fortnight. The villagers joined them to help too.

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According to the priest of Raoghat temple, he had requested the BSF commandant to help and the team was there with a plan the very next day. Additionally, BSF men also distributed essential medical items for the villagers at a medical camp in Anjrel. They are now operating a sewing training centre at Dandakvan which was inaugurated on April 9. 60 tribal women are being trained at the centre and they will get contracts to make BSF uniforms after finishing their training. BSF has set up a free hospital for tribals in Kanker, and it is the only hospital in the 30 km radius around Dandakvan.

“The BSF men do all they can to help the villagers. They have built medical camps, training schools, open grocery shops, provided edibles and have also built bus-waiting sheds and toilets for villagers in many areas. Imagining life without BSF men is almost impossible in villages like Folpar, Dangad, Jaitpuri, Bhaisgaon, Gotia, Timrugaon, Garda to name a few,” Narendra Kumar, a social activist told The Times of India.

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