Incomplete Bridge Stalls Development

Rural community suffers as infrastructural projects lay incomplete in India's Jharkhand. Mukesh Rajak, our correspondent of this video, lives in a remote area that lacks basic civic facilities such as healthcare, roads and transport. In this video he shows us a river bridge that has not been completed even a decade after it took off. For the people of his community, lack of a bridge means a number of difficulties that they have to face every day. Their sick cannot be taken to the hospital in time. Selling their farm produce in the market is difficult as no trucks or cars can cross the bridge. The villagers have built a temporary bridge with bamboo, but the only vehicle that can go over the makeshift bridge is a cycle. And Mukesh who rides a cycle himself, says that it is very dangerous to do so in the rainy season when the river is full because the makeshift bridge may fall apart any moment. Now let us look at the government’s plan on villages like this. Since the creation of the state in 2001, succcessive governments in Jharkhand have said that ‘infrastrucral development’ is their priority. In the current budget, 46 percent of the total money has been earmarked for building infrastructure such as roads, bridges etc. But as this video indicates, many of the promises are still in books. There is another interesting fact that the video highlights. According to the government of Jharkhand, half of the state is underdeveloped which has made it a hotbed of Maoist rebels. The government has devised a special action plan to develop these districts, creating basic facilities including health, education, roads, electricity and child care. But Mukesh says that such plans can be successful only when the government takes note of small communities such as his and the problems they suffer from.

“Video Volunteers gave me a platform to go the extra mile for people”

 
/ March 20, 2023

Avijit Adhikary is a journalist with nearly 8000 days of field experience till date. In the past two decades, he has witnessed the ebb and flow of the media industry in India, with ripples felt in his region too. This includes the rise of digital media, the decline of print...

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A bridge about to collapse in Bihar

 
/ February 22, 2023

The bridge that was built by the British is slowly chipping off, and fatal accidents are a regular occurrence there.   The villagers along with our Community Correspondent are requesting the Government officials to repair this bridge. They are getting assurance that the repair work will start soon though it...

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