An important bridge in Salaiya village, Jharkhand, lies broken for the past six years. In today’s video, Community Correspondent Mukesh Rajak provides us with an insight into the lopsided infrastructural development taking place in Jharkhand. “… on one hand, the bridge over the Dharwa river in Deoghar district, aided by political will and administrative support took only three months to complete. On the other hand, in the same district the Bakulia bridge of Salaiya village which after six years still remains broken is the cause of much misery to the people here.” The Bakulia bridge falls on an important route that connects various villages to Mudhupur Block, which comprises a large marketplace and various business set ups. Although there is one other route that villagers can take, it requires a detour of twelve kilometres. Something that people cannot afford to undertake if emergencies occur. Madhupur Block is relatively more developed than other parts of Deoghar District and has hospitals and schools. It is also a hub for commercial activity, and naturally, residents of nearby villages feel the need to travel to Madhupur. However, with the bridge lying unfixed for six years, travelling to and fro becomes very difficult. During the Monsoon season particularly, villagers face a lot of inconvenience. The residents of Madhupur do not face many problems because they are in a developed area and have easy access to everything they need.The people who do face issues are those from remote villages. This broken bridge is a barrier to their development. Not only are they unable to access resources available in Madhupur, but Government schemes and benefit programmes also have difficulty reaching them. “It is unfair that this bridge, despite various complaints by villagers and even the unfortunate incident of a death, is not getting repaired only because of the fact that nobody ‘important’ lives in that vicinity. This is a case of apathy on the part of the government.” -Rajyashri Goody