MPs keep out! Enraged Bihar villagers build their own bamboo bridge - but the politicians who ignored their pleas for a new crossing are barred

A bridge is no longer "too far" for the residents of Kamalpur-Brahmotar Ghat - a remote village in Bihar's Darbhanga district.



Fed up with false assurances by the successive state governments and the politicians of all hues for several years, enraged villagers of Kamalpur-Brahmotar Ghat in Bahadurpur have built a huge bamboo bridge over the turbulent Kamla River to make life easier for them.



Community power: The villagers were forced to build a makeshift bridge when pleas went unheard

Keep out! A sign makes it clear that MPs and MLAs are prohibited from using the bridge

The bridge, however, is not thrown open for lawmakers. They were forced to build the makeshift bridge after their pleas to the area's MP and MLA fell on deaf ears.



The villagers have barred elected representatives, including Members of Parliament and legislators, from using the bridge which is popularly known as Chachri Pul.

People: A board with the names of the local villagers who took the initiative to build the bridge

"Setu par janpratinidhi sansad, vidhayakon ka pravesh varjit (No entry for people's representatives such as MP and MLAs into the bridge)," says a banner put up by the villagers on one side of the bridge.



The villagers have also decided to boycott all the elections until their demand for a concrete bridge is fulfiled.



"We will not allow any MP, MLA or other people's representatives who have not bothered to help build a bridge for us," said Baba Laxman Das, a local sadhu who took the initiative to build the bridge along with four other villagers - Premi Das, Bhogi Yadav, Ram Pramod Jha and Guneshwar Ram.



Das has been instrumental in collecting donations from the villagers. He said a foundation stone for the bridge was laid way back in 1985 by the then Congress MLC Harishchandra Jha, but it could not be built due to sheer apathy of the state government and the elected representatives from the area.



"The MP and the MLA of the area will have to do a lot of explaining if they come to our village seeking votes," Das said.



"We have collected around Rs 2 lakh from the villagers to build the makeshift bamboo bridge," Das said.



"It has turned out to be a boon for the people who can now commute through the bridge."

The locals constructed the makeshift bridge in September this year. It has been constructed at a height of around 25 feet atop the Kamla River.



At present, the bridge cannot take the load of four-wheelers or other heavy vehicles.



"It is being used by motorcyclists, cyclists, rickshaw-pullers and pedestrians only," said Rambali Yadav, a former sarpanch (village head). The villagers are sore that the incumbent BJP MP Kirti Azad and JD(U)'s Bahadurpur MLA Madan Sahni have not taken note of their plight.



"We were virtually cut off from the rest of the world during the past several years," Ram Pramod Jha, a villager, said.



"We used to cross the river through a small bamboo bridge earlier on," he said.



"But that was not adequate. Besides, it used to get flooded in the rainy season."



Jha said the people were so angry with politicians that they had unanimously resolved to debar their entry into the bridge and boycott all the polls in future to press the government for making a cemented bridge.



Dilip Kumar Jha - a district BJP leader who lives in the nearby Kushouthar village - said there was a proposal lying with the government for building the bridge, but it was gathering dust.

Local MLA Madan Sahni said he had raised the issue in the Assembly for constructing a bridge in the area.



"But bridge making is a time-taking process," he said.



"Everything is not in my hand, though."



The Nitish government takes pride in constructing a huge network of bridges across the state.



According to the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation officials, they have constructed as many as 1,126 bridges under various schemes at the cost of Rs 3,878 crore in the past eight years.

