Where there's a will, there's a road

They waited for a road to get connected with the main road for six decades. And when the government failed to deliver, people in a Chhattisgarh village engineered it all by themselves in less than six hours.

Sixty years of the country's independence had not even brought a simple road to Kandai, a sleepy village under Bemetara development block in Durg district.

The villagers shared the money, laboured voluntarily and completed the construction of a road that will now connect the village with the main road. The villagers were using a kachcha road to reach the main road, about 4 km away.

During the monsoons, the stretch would appear like several miles as the mud would make walking nearly impossible. From politicians to senior officials, the poor villagers had knocked the doors of all who mattered, but in vain.

"Life became difficult during this monsoon too. We were forced to take action, and completed the work without the government's assistance," said Ashok Patel, one of the youths who designed the project about a month ago. The village, 120 km from here and 10 km from Bemetara, has a population of 1,000.

"We took the villagers into confidence and asked them to donate generously," the youths said. A sum of Rs 40,000, including Rs 5,000 acquired from the panchayat fund, was collected.

Later, a public announcement was made in the village asking people to come for 'shramdan' for the construction of road. On a Sunday morning, people thronged to the site to help complete the project. "Besides village elders, children and women also turned up," Patel said.

Despite having limited resources, the villagers constructed the 2.5-km metal road. "Since a 1.5-km stretch is walkable, metal was laid only over 2.5 km," Patel explained. The villagers now plan to tar the road but have decided not to ask for favours. For they have set an example in self reliance.