How long does it take to build a bridge? A decade? More than that? Yeah! it sounds crazy. However, this is nevertheless an exaggeration. Jharkhand’s Naxal-affected Latehar district started to construct a bridge around 12 years back from now, and the irony is, the bridge being constructed to connect Lurugumi and Barahi village is not ready yet.
According to reports, the construction of the bridge over Barsati river that flows in between Lurugumi and Barahi village of Latehar district in Jharkhand was meant to connect the two villages. Seeing the troubles of villagers to commute from one village to another, the construction was started in 2006.
However, the threat from the Naxalites caused interruption and the contractor was forced to stop the construction work.
“We pleaded MLAs, MPs to complete the construction but we only got assurance in return,” said a local resident of the village.
According to locals, during monsoon, the river starts overflowing making the passage precarious for the commuters. There is no other short-cut to reach Lurugumi from Barahi village or vise-versa, other than swimming across the river. Children, having no choice, have to swim across the river risking their lives.
However, the villagers are left with no other choice other than travelling 24 km to reach Mahuadanr, which actually is only 9 k away. Since boats cannot be started during monsoon since the increased level of water becomes dangerous and there are more chances of drowning in this period.
