Jamshedpur, Aug. 23: It took a humble road under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for Lakhaidih to change its image from a Naxalite hub to a guava orchard.

Located in distant Dumaria in the Ghatshila sub-division, Lakhaidih has always produced lush guavas in abundance, but could never make brisk business due to lack of connectivity — till the 10km Lakhaidih-Badalgora road happened.

Now, Lakhaidih villagers — who had been living in abject poverty and under the shadow of rebels for decades — have started trading in guava, taking their fruits to Ghatshila, Musaboni and even Jamshedpur via the recently constructed road.

“As the village is situated on a hilly terrain, the land is not ideal for paddy. Instead, guava trees are better, but in the absence of a road, we were not able take the produce outside our village. The situation changed since the Lakhaidih-Badalgora Road was completed a month ago,” said Budhram Hembrom, a villager.

“The guavas are collected by women and children. We carry them in baskets to Musaboni on bicycles. From there, traders take them to Ghatshila, Jadugora and Jamshedpur,” he added. Lakhaidih’s guava is famous for its taste and absence of seeds.

Sitaram Bari, deputy development commissioner of East Singhbhum, said the road project had completely transformed the village.

Vikram Prasad, a fruit vendor at Sakchi in Jamshedpur, admitted that Lakhaidih guavas were on high demand. “This variety of guava is found by chance. People who have tasted will definitely come again to buy it,” he added.