Davanagere (Karnataka): A girl's resolve and her open threat to stay single if her village doesn't get proper roads yielded results. On Thursday morning, a bus from Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) reached the girl's village formally commencing the bus transport.
Recently, 26-year-old Bindu from Rampur village wrote a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining the plight of the village without proper road connectivity. Her village in Mayakonda Hobli lies on the border of Davangere and Chitradurga districts. The small village with 40 houses had no proper connectivity.
The villagers used to walk seven kilometres of dirt road to board a bus. Bindu explained the plight of her village and vowed in her letter that she would never get married till the village gets a proper road. Though hundreds of petitions were submitted in the past about road connectivity, Bindu's strange threat stoked a storm. ETV Bharat carried news about the girl and her vow.
When ETV Bharat correspondent visited the village, Bindu's mother Latha explained their plight and the reason behind her daughter's grit. She got married and came to the village 30 years ago and the roads remain the same. There is only a primary school and students have to travel for higher education. The farmers struggle to transport their produce to markets. The villagers walk five kilometres to collect ration items. "Even marriage proposals are stalled by the road problem. Families who visit the village looking for a groom or bride don't turn up again", she said.
Davanagere Deputy Commissioner Mahantesh Belagi visited the village and interacted with the villagers. He also said that he is going to meet the girl and hear her out. "We will make the road and get her married too", he told ETV Bharat then. Belegi also promised to look into the other infrastructure requirements of the village. The villagers were also struggling for proper mobile phone connectivity.
In the earlier interaction, Bindu had said that Chief Minister Bommai's secretary has replied to her e-mail stating the administration will look into the issue.
A week after the deputy commissioner visited the village, a KSRTC bus has finally arrived at the village. The district administration has taken up the road construction works in the last week to provide bus connectivity. The road works are still in process.
Local women offered prayers to the bus and received the crew. With her demand now met, it can be expected that wedding bells will ring for Bindu soon.
Read: Karnataka woman threatens to stay single over lack of proper road
