The Endless Wait for a Road

Community Correspondent Ramjag Gaud reports from Bastar, Chattisgarh on another promise unfulfilled. The road between Icchapur and Kushmaguda villages is a dirt track that stretches for 10 kilometres. Funds granted through the Prime Ministers Road Construction Scheme guaranteed that in time the road would have a proper surface on which passengers could travel without being jolted around. "The money was granted in 2009. Usually the construction is supposed to take place within a year and a contractor has to take care of it for about 5. It is now 2013 and the road construction hasn't even started," says Mohan Yadav, the Deputy village headman. Ramjag's research says that around Rs. 2,79,30,000 had been granted for the project. "Who do we hold responsible for not completing the work?" he asks. "The main cause in the delay of the work has been because of the contractor who refuses to take the work forward. In the mean time, the villagers are constantly given false reassurances that the road will come," explains Ramjag. The villagers are tired of waiting but haven't given up hope completely.
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