Maha's `Manjhi' built 40km road in 57 years with personal funds
Mumbai:
You've heard of Dashrath Manjhi, the Bihar man who cut a road through a hillock over two decades. Now meet Rajaram Bhapkar, a villager from Ahmednagar, who has built 40 kilometres of road through seven hills over 57 years.
Eighty-four-year-old Bhapkar, a former teacher from Ahmednagar's Gundegaon village, spent money from his own pocket, including his salary and retirement funds, to construct a `kuccha' road to connect his village to the nearby ones.
Affectionately referred to as `Bhapkar Guruji', his quest began when his request to build a road across the 700-meter high Santosha hill didn't evoke any response from the authorities.“At the time of Independence, there was not even a paywat (walking trail) connecting Gun degaon to the adjoining vil age,“ Bhapkar, a Class 7 pass out, said. At the time when Bhapkar aught at the Kolegaon govern ment school between 1957 to 1991, people from Gundegaon had to cross three other villages o reach there, trudging 29km “In 1968, not even a cycle could pass through the earlier walk ng trail. Now, big vehicles ply on this road,“ a villager said. The road was completed in 1997, reducing the distance between Gundegaon and Kolegaon to just 10km. Bhapkar paid wages to those who accompanied him in the road work. Besides using spades and shovels, he also hired heavy duty excavator machines. “I used to spend half of my salary on wages. Not a single government rupee has been spent on the road,“ Bhapkar said.
