Residents of a village in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad took up the construction of a road for ensuring the safety of their school-going children.
Over 200 boys and girls of Niche Deoghara village in Dhanbad district go to a school in Mahuda by walking on a railway track every day. So the villagers decided to make a road running parallel to the railway track so that their children would be safe.

Villagers engage themselves to build the kutcha road running parallel to the railway track. The Telegraph

“There is a proper road but they have to walk for over 5km if they take that road. This prompts the children to take the shortcut by walking on the railway track,” informed Nageswar Rawani of the village.

Since a number of trains ply on that electrified single track under the Adra division of South Eastern Railway, there is always a chance of an accident as the children walk on the track to reach school, Rawani said.

The kutcha road that the villagers constructed for safety of their children. The Telegraph

The track has chips on both sides, making it difficult for walking beside it. So the children prefer walking between the rails. There were occasions when gang men working on the track saw an approaching train and alerted the children, the villagers said, adding still their children preferred walking on the railway track as it is a short route that saves a lot of time.

“We had approached local leaders but since there is a proper road, they didn’t show much interest to build another. So we decided to construct a kutcha road on our own that would ensure the safety of our children,” Rawani said.

Villagers engage themselves to build the kutcha road. The Telegraph

The villagers raised a fund by giving subscriptions and some young men of the village volunteered to work for the construction of the kutcha road.

“There is a rocky patch and we have almost cleared that. There is still some work left but we will complete it soon,” said Lalu Kisku, another villager, adding it would be better if the local MLA had helped.