A group of villagers confined in the Mangora hamlet in Jaskandi about 15 km away from Jamshedpur, have built five small connecting bridges after wealthier tribals had blocked their only path to the main road.

When police intervention did not arrive despite requests, these 60 families under the Gadra panchayat paved their own way into connectivity after a month’s labouring.

These bridges have been made on farm boundaries, which were willingly donated to erect the temporary bridges at five different spots, to enable the flow of pedestrians, cyclists and bike riders.

“Since lockdown, people hardly moved out so we somehow managed, but in the past one month, we had to go to work. Native villagers populate the other part of the village. We came here about 20 years ago for work and started living in this hamlet. We don’t know the exact reason for the closure,” said Sohan Sandi, a Mangora villager.

A police complaint was made at the local thana, following which the blockage was lifted.

However, it was back to square one after a couple of days.

The police did not intervene thereafter.

Not finding a way out and totally disconnected to the outer world, these villagers thought to find their own way through the paddy farms, building the path made out of sand bags and bamboo, covered with a layer of soil.

The working group mostly consisted of women designing the path with their own labour and resources.

The bridges now connect them to Sarjamda, which connects them to other parts of the outskirts of Jamshedpur.

“There was no other way. We had to get connected. People couldn’t go to the market or work. So we built a path of our own. People donated parts of their farm, labour and some money,” said Somvari Karmakar, one of the residents.

“Will have to see what the case was,” said the officer-in-charge of Parsudih police station Ajay Kumar, adding he cannot say anything now.