The residents of Silpata in Chamoli district welcome the arrival of the first state-operated bus in their area.

Key Highlights For the villagers of Silpata in Chamoli district, it is a dream come true

They celebrated the arrival of the bus by holding a welcome ceremony

The 21-km road connecting the village with tehsil headquarters at Adi Badri was built under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana

Dehradun: After a wait of almost 69 years, residents of the remote village of Silpata in Chamoli district welcomed the first bus to their village. A 21-km road connecting the village with the tehsil headquarters at Adi Badri was built recently under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana.

For many villagers, it is a dream come true. Some old residents said that they had spent their whole lives trekking many kilometres to reach the nearest market for their daily necessities. “We had been hoping that a road would be built to our village ever since the country became independent. I am happy that it has at least happened in our lifetimes. Now, the future generations will not have to face the difficulties that we had to endure,” said Kalam Singh Bisht, a resident of the village.

They celebrated the arrival of a bus operated by the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation by holding a welcome ceremony in which the local women performed traditional dances. They also thanked Congress MLA from Karanprayag, Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri, for making the road possible.

Some villagers, however, said that the road could have become a reality two years ago if the project had not been unnecessarily delayed. “Most of the remote villages in our area had been linked with motorable roads two years back, but we kept waiting for a road for several years. We had to resort to repeated hunger strikes and protest marches before our project was taken up on priority,” said a villager.

BS Rawat, executive engineer who undertook the project, denied that the road was unnecessarily delayed. “It was difficult to build the road in this terrain, but we managed to complete it within eighteen months,” he said.

