MP’s Jabalpur Bargi Dam-Displaced Families Pick Up Shovels To Build 2-Km Road After 35 Years

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly 35 years after being displaced by the Bargi Dam project, residents of Durganagar in Shahpura district, 55 km from Jabalpur, have taken up shovels and buckets to repair a 2-km muddy road themselves.

More than 100 women, 50 men and over 25 children are volunteering to improve the road from Durganagar in Chirpodi to Kareli. Villagers are arranging gravel and stones using their own resources to create a temporary path usable during the rainy season.

Over 90 families, with a population of approximately 1,200, were resettled here after being displaced from Jabalpur, Mandla and Seoni districts. Villagers said the Forest Department and local administration maintain, "This is just a hamlet, and it hasn't yet been granted full village status."

The poor road has affected education and healthcare. Durganagar's primary school building was demolished five years ago after becoming dilapidated.

Classes now run from an additional room that also houses an Anganwadi centre. Children travelling to Chirpodi for further education often cannot reach school during rains.

No ambulance or 108 vehicle can reach the village because of the muddy road. Recently, five pregnant women had to stay with relatives in another village for delivery.

The village also lacks a proper drinking water system, forcing residents to purchase water from private bores for Rs 100. The Paili Tap Water Project, earlier scheduled for completion by 2024, now has a 2027 deadline.

District Panchayat member Ramkumar Saiyaam said he raised the road issue three to four times and submitted a written proposal to district panchayat CEO Abhishek Gehlot, but no concrete action or response was received.