Play

We're all familiar with complaints about the government not getting things done and concerns that the state is going to take years to build some vital bit of infrastructure. One village in Haryana decided they weren't going to wait around for the government and, instead, would take matters into their own hands.

After endless attempts at reaching out to politicians and bureaucrats to build a bridge over the Ghaggar River, the villagers teamed up and decided to crowdfund a sum and build the bridge that would go on to connect Aleeka and Panihari villages to Sirsa. Little did they know that, after two years, they would have Rs 1 crore in hand to build a solid 250-foot-long and 14-foot-wide structure.

This inspiring story is somewhat similar to the tale of Manjhi, a poor farmer in Bihar’s Gaya district who single-handedly chiselled out a road through a 300-foot-high mountain using just a hammer and chisel. Villagers called him pagal (crazy) and taunted him for years but he kept on hammering the rock for 22 years starting in 1960 until in 1982, he accomplished in connecting Gehlour village to neighbouring villages.

The villagers of Sirsa may not have heard of Manjhi, but their efforts have achieved something similar with the bridge nearing completion.

Once it is ready, more than 1.25 lakh people would be able to commute every day to Sirsa and local markets in Punjab for their farm produce. The bridge will also cut down the distance of 30 km which the villagers earlier had to take while travelling to Sirsa.