Against all odds, police, villagers construct roads to bring change in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal areas

In Chhattisgarh's Kanker district--infamous for Naxal violence--the locals have joined hands with the police force to construct roads in Jivlamari and Marrapi villages.

Raipur, July 7: American poet Robert Frost famously wrote in his cult poem, The road not taken, "Two roads diverged in a wood and I--I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

Like Frost, the police and villagers in the Naxal-dominated areas of Chhattisgarh have also choosen their "path" by building roads to connect the remotest corners of the state. And their endeavour will definitely make "all the difference".

The idea of collectively constructing roads is to bring development in some of the farthest corners of the country that have endured violence and bloodbath for too long.

In Chhattisgarh's Kanker district--infamous for Naxal violence--the locals have joined hands with the police force to construct roads in Jivlamari and Marrapi villages.

Building roads in these parts of the state is not an easy task as dense forests surround these villages. Thus roads are being built on rocky and steep terrains and that requires a lot of hard work and good understanding of the geography. As a part of the road building process, several commandos have been deployed in these places for the security of the villagers.

Speaking to ANI, Superintendent of Police Kanker, Kanhaiya Lal, said, "Both the villages were disconnected from various types of facilities like market and other villages, due to unavailability of road connection. Hence, we decided to construct roads and we also got an immense support from the villagers. As everyone knows these are Naxal-affected areas, thus enough security has been deployed to avoid any untoward incident. We have also organised a camp to thank the villagers who have come out in our support."

Janpad member Rajesh Bhaskar said, "This has been a demand of villagers for a long time. We held a meeting with villagers and they said they want to cooperate."

"Roads being constructed by police with the support of villagers in Jivlamari and Marrapi village of Kanker. Janpad member Rajesh Bhaskar says, 'this has been a demand of villagers for a long time. We held a meeting with villagers & they said they want to cooperate'.#Chhattisgarh," tweeted ANI.

Once the construction of the roads will be over, locals are hopeful that things will change for the greater good of these villages.