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The
lifestyle of tribals residing in about 50 villages of
Budhar development block in Shahdol district has
undergone a sea change due to construction of two
bridges, which have been built for establishing a
direct contact with Janakpur in Chhattisgarh.
The
two bridges costing Rs 1 crore 16 lakh 18 thousands
have been constructed by the Madhya Pradesh Public
Works Department. One river and two nullahs fall on
the roads to Janakpur and Anuppur. Tribals of these
areas depend mainly on these two cities for their
livelihood. In the absence of bridges, tribals had to
face a lot of problems. They had to wade through or
swim to the other side. Even then, they had to stop
crossing the river after 8 pm since at that time bears
come to the river to drink water. After construction
of these bridges tribals can travel easily to their
destinations even at midnight.
The
journey to Janakpur now takes four hours instead of 12
hours. Former sarpanch of village Khamhidol Shri
Borelal says, "Earlier, travel to other places
used to be blocked when the river was in spate during
the monsoon and the business of milk producers and
vegetable growers used to come to a halt. Now, 50
villages of Madhya Pradesh and 25 villages of
Chhattisgarh have been connected to this road."
A
bridge has also been constructed over the nullah
passing through village Kotri. Due to this, children
of the village can attend school during the monsoon,
which was impossible for them earlier. The bridge has
also brought cheers to milkmen, as they do brisk
business now in every season. A panch of the village,
Shri Sanai Prasad, says that earlier patients had to
suffer a lot when this bridge was not constructed.
They had to consult village quacks since they could
not go to cities for undergoing treatment. "Now,
the journey to Jaitpur takes only two hours instead of
four", he said.
Meanwhile,
the construction of another bridge over Bichhli nullah
is also underway at a cost of Rs 63.75 lakh. After its
construction, traffic will become busier on this
route. Says PWD executive engineer Shri R.K. Vyas,
"The state government is giving special attention
to the construction of bridges and culverts in tribal
dominated areas. The lifestyle of local tribal people
will undergo further improvement after construction of
this bridge."
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