Villagers take part in the construction of the road. Picture by Siraj Hossain

Khargram (Murshidabad), Nov. 22: Villagers in a Murshidabad hamlet have done what its panchayat didn’t do in a decade.

The residents of Ratanpur have raised Rs 7 lakh to construct a road that will reduce the distance to Behrampore town by half.

The move to raise the money came after pleas of the 8,000 villagers to the gram panchayat, the panchayat samiti and the zilla parishad for the construction of a motorable road went unheeded.

“For the past six decades, we have been using the narrow path during the dry season to walk up to the Dwarka river to catch a boat to Rameswarpur from where Behrampore town is about 28km by road. But during the monsoons, this path becomes inaccessible as it is situated in a low-lying area.

“We have been clamouring for a motorable road to the riverbank for 10 years. We have appealed to the panchayat bodies but nothing has been done. So, we decided to construct the road all by ourselves,” said Abu Saleh, a villager.

Now, a villager from Ratanpur has to travel 9km to Nagar bazaar by bicycle or motorbike. From there, one has to take a bus to Behrampore and the total distance comes to 60km. The new 12-feet wide motorable road is expected to reduce the distance by about 30km, added Saleh.

“We decided to collect Rs 300 per person and those who were not able to contribute money, will have to help build the road. We have collected Rs 7 lakh. Initially, we will build an earthen road and later lay moram on it,” said Afroz Sheikh, another villager.

Asked about the villagers’ decision to build the road all by themselves, the chief of the Congress-run gram panchayat blamed the previous Left-headed local body for not paying heed to their appeals. “We would have constructed the road for them if the villagers asked us. For a long time the CPM controlled the gram panchayat and they did nothing,” said Ajit Ganguly.

But Ganguly could not explain why the current panchayat had not built the road after taking control of the rural body in 2008.

The subdivisional officer of Kandi, Dipanjan Bhattacharya, welcomed the decision of the villagers. “The villagers of Ratanpur have taken a bold decision. If they need any co-operation they can approach me and I assure them I will help,” the SDO said.