The phone was installed with much fanfare three years ago. Now, for the last six months, it has fallen silent. The villagers, who depend on the phone for supply of essentials like food and medicines, say they have come up against the usual bureaucratic ennui on making countless complaints.

Prabhakar Bhoir, sarpanch of the village, ensconced between Bhayander creek and Naigon stations, said that not only was the line installed dead, but also 18 villagers who had applied for phone connections two years ago were yet to get connections from the Kalyan telecom circle of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

A visit to the village revealed that the Rs 1.5 lakh Punwire radio telephone was non-operational and the equipment was gathering dust. Tired of requestingtelecom officials, Bhoir said they have kept the community hall housing the telephone closed.

The dead phone even cost a life, claim villagers. ``A few months back, one of the villagers had a severe cardiac arrest. But we could not contact a doctor as the telephone was dead. We finally had to send a person across the creek to get a doctor, but it was too late. The patient was dead by then,'' said Akash Bhoir, a resident.

The non-functioning telephone has also affected the supply of essentials to the island. ``Essentials like medicines fail to reach the village on time, as requests for orders from the zilla parishad which could be made over the phone now have to be personally attended to,'' said another villager.

Bhoir alleged that the state bureaucracy was discriminating against them by not providing them the necessary infrastructure. ``If the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Council can provide us water under the World Bank scheme, why can't the MTNL give us telephone lines?'' he asked.

A senior DoTofficial, Kalyan circle, requesting anonymity, said the Vasai and Virar suburbs were soon going to be linked to the MTNL line in suburban Mumbai, a move which would connect the district to the suburban phone network.

Commenting on the Panaju island telephone connection, he said the short-staffed DOT was not in a position to employ one person especially to man the solitary phone connection at the island. ``The wireless system at Panaju can be operated by anybody. Where is the need for an operator to maintain the phone?'' asked the official.