Villagers construct wooden bridge in UP's Fatehpur, shame authorities into action

India Today

In Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district, residents of Kripalpur village took matters into their own hands after years of neglected pleas for a bridge over the river.

Transcript

00:00to get real India. When the system fails in this country, people sometimes rise.

00:06In Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district, that's what's happened.

00:09The residents of Kripalpur village went on to build a makeshift wooden bridge

00:15after multiple requests for a proper bridge to the authorities fell on deaf ears.

00:21Now the district administration has been shamed into action

00:24and is promising the villagers to build a bridge after the monsoon.

00:30Take a look at Get Real India.

00:46With no solution in sight for a decades-old demand,

00:50the villagers of Kripalpur in Fatehpur district decided enough was enough.

00:55Repeated pleas for a small bridge over a seasonal river went unheard.

01:00So the villagers picked up wood and rope and started building one themselves.

01:07Frustrated by years of neglect, this makeshift wooden bridge

01:11was their only shot at ending daily connectivity woes.

01:14But the authorities didn't take kindly to the villagers' initiative and ordered them to dismantle the structure

01:31and instead offered a boat to ferry people across.

01:33But the authorities didn't take kindly to the villagers' initiative

01:36and ordered them to dismantle the structure and instead offered a boat to ferry people across.

01:46Now, after the story grabbed attention, officials have assured the villagers that a permanent bridge will be built,

02:13but only after the monsoon.

02:15I have promised to the villages that I have sufficient now.

02:20I will provide you 2, 3, 4, 9 to you.

02:24But we will not give you the life of your life.

02:27We will not give you the opportunity.

02:28For decades, children have had to wade through water just to reach school.

02:53Letters to elected representatives went unanswered.

02:58With Samad Srivastava in Fatehpur, Bureau Report, India Today.

03:07Only in India, the kind of stories that you only get here on Prime Time on India Today.

Category

Transcript

Recommended