Sendhwa (Madhya Pradesh): In a feat reminiscent of Dashrath Manji's herculean effort, villagers of Bedi Fartala village constructed a 4.5 km long road within a fortnight on their own, when local administration failed them.
With a combined population of 350 people under Rosar gram panchayat under Pati block, these villagers refused to wait for government promises for a road.
After years of ignored applications and unfulfilled electoral promises, they took matters into their own hands by constructing a 1.5-kilometre road in just three days and completing the construction of 4.3 kilometres within 15 days.
Locals struggled daily due to a lack of road. Children were unable to reach school, and elderly patients faced difficulty reaching hospitals, walking on dangerous, muddy paths during monsoons.
"If not now, then never," became their motto and with collective effort and coordination, they began carving a stretch through the hills.
Half the population of the village worked on road construction from morning to evening, while others tended to agricultural duties. Women prepared meals on-site to maximise working hours and accelerate the progress of road construction.
Describing their routine, villager Dharam Singh said, "We woke up every morning to dig mountains and carried stones. The construction involved more than just laying soil and gravel - it represents our community resilience and hope."
Residents manually excavated mountainous terrain, transported stones and coordinated logistics without external assistance or machinery.
Local MLA Rajan Mandloi said, “Similar conditions plague every gram panchayat in the region where people rely on foot travel. I have raised the issue multiple times during assembly sessions. Many panchayats in the area are disconnected.
Plans for road work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme were discussed earlier, but many projects were never implemented, rendering people helpless," he said.
