Six months back, Sheikh Lalchand was merely a ghat majhi, who helped people cross Mundeswari river in his country boat. Today, he is a hero to the residents of Ghoraberia-Chitnan and Bhatora, the island that is surrounded by the rivers Mundeswari, Damodar and Roopnarayan. For Lalchand has changed the lives of these people forever by building a bamboo bridge over the Mundeswari river, all on his own.
A bridge over Mundeswari river was a long-standing demand of the residents. “The Left Front, in its 34-year rule, denied us a bridge. They laid a foundation stone for the bridge only to fool us. The Trinamul government has not promised any bridge yet. We are not sure whether the present government has any plans to build a bridge on the river. In such circumstances, the bamboo bridge of Lalchand is like a gift from heaven,” said Atiar Rahman Mullick, a local resident and a Trinamul Congress leader.
The hero of the village, Lalchand, said that he decided to build the bridge after it became impossible for him to operate his boats on the river because of the siltation near the ghat. “During low tide, people had to cross the river in knee-deep slush and mud when boats could not be operated. Students suffered the most. They could not cross the river on foot while carrying school bags. Then I thought why not build a bamboo bridge over the river?” said Lalchand.
He spent Rs 7.5 lakh building the bridge. He arranged for this money, partly by selling his wife’s ornaments and partly by borrowing money from his relatives. “I have brought fine bamboo from East Midnapore and Hooghly. A total of 3,500 pieces of bamboo were used to build the bridge. Labourers, with experience of building bamboo bridges, were brought from East Midnapore,” he said. In total, 16 workers worked for 28 days at a stretch to build the bridge. He has taken a one-year lease of the Kulia Ghat from Ghoraberia-Chitnan gram panchayat through an auction after paying Rs 1.5 lakh. The panchayat had asked for Rs 2.3 lakh but agreed to make a concession of Rs 80,000 for Lalchand.
Now that the bridge is complete, Lalchand charges Rs 2 for crossing the bridge on foot or in a cycle. Those in a motorbike have to pay Rs 6, a Magic IRIS Tata vehicle has to pay Rs 50 and a Maruti van Rs 100. Students and senior citizens are charged only Re 1. “Ambulances carrying patients are allowed to cross the bridge for free,” said Lalchand. During examinations, students are allowed to cross the bridge for free.
The bridge was not only helping the people of the island but also those of neighbouring districts – Hooghly and East Midnapore – to cross the river and reach Calcutta in a short time. “Earlier the people of Hooghly and East Midnapore, that borders the island, had to travel for nearly six hours to reach Calcutta. Now they are reaching Calcutta in half the time,” said Mullick. This has been possible because of Lalchand’s bridge over Mundeswari.
Earlier, the residents of Arambagh and Khanakul in Hooghly set out for Calcutta first in an auto or trekker to reach Gorerghat. They would then cross Roopnarayan river in country boats to reach Ghatal. From Ghatal, they took a bus to reach Calcutta that was a five-hour journey. Now, with Lalchand’s bridge, Arambagh and Khanakul residents take an auto or trekker to reach either Panshiuli Ghat or Marokhana Ghat, cross the Damodar river, then take an auto to reach Kulia ghat, cross the bamboo bridge over Mundeswari river and reach Bagnan station from where they can take a train to Howrah station. From Bagnan, it takes one-and-a-half hours to reach Calcutta.
“Lalchand is not just our hero but also a hero to the residents of Hooghly and East Midnapore, particularly those living in Arambagh and Khanakul,” said Gurudas Chatterjee, a resident of Khanakul in Hooghly. Locals are also claiming that land prices in the island have gone up after the bridge came up. “The bridge was built merely two months back but within this short period, the price of agricultural land has gone up. Earlier, a bigha of agricultural land was selling for Rs 3 lakh, now it is going at Rs 5 lakh,” said Sheikh Rahim Ali. He said that people from the neighbouring districts started buying agricultural land in the island after the bridge was built. Most of the residents of the island depend on agriculture for a living. They mainly produce rice, vegetables, mustard seeds and cereals. In the absence of a bridge, they were separated from the mainland of Howrah.
Even patients and pregnant women were taken to the Bagnan Gramin Hospital by crossing the river in boats. “It was a big challenge to take critically ill patients to the hospital late at night. We had to carry them in bamboo stretchers to the Kulia Ghat and then cross the river by boat before taking them to the hospital. Now that the bridge has been built, ambulances are reaching our doorstep,” said Asleema Sheikh, member, Ghoraberia-Chitnan gram panchayat.
There has been another pleasant offshoot. She said that earlier it was difficult to marry off boys and girls in the island in families that lived in other areas of Howrah because of poor communication. “Nobody outside the island was willing to marry our boys and girls. But in the last two months, there have been several proposals of matrimony from the neighbouring areas,” she said.
Maintaining law and order at the island has also become easier. There is an outpost of Amta police station at the island. The police personnel said that it was difficult for them to maintain law and order when there was no bridge. “Criminals fled by swimming across the river after committing crimes in the island. We could only watch helplessly. Now that there is a bridge, we can cross the river easily and continue our chase,” said Tapas Moulick, circle inspector of the outpost.
