COMMUNITY REPAIRS A WATER LOGGED ROAD IN VILLAGE

Drain dug out for installing PVC pipes

Water logging on the roads during rains used to make life difficult for the people in Rajabari village under Jorhat District of Assam. The road is vital means of transportation & communication for people living in that area. “We are dependent on this road on a daily basis to meet our need but due to water logging it got difficult for us to even walk on the road”, said Ms. Gulapi Guria. Having faced all the hardships the community thought of taking a concrete step towards repairing the road. During one of the visits of the project team of Seva Kendra Dibrugarh (SKD), the community shared the issue of water logging in their road. “We told our friends from SKD the tale of our sufferings due to water logging & they gave us a patient hearing”, said Ms. Ursella Guria.

Community doing the repair works

The Farmers’ Club (FC) of Rajabari then mobilized itself & sat together to decide on the course of action. Team SKD facilitated the meeting & motivated the community to take action. “We decided that 32 households would contribute Rs 30 each along with labour for the repair of the road,” said Alen Guria (FC President). The community made request to SKD for financial assistance towards purchasing PVC pipes for the repair. “We told them (Team SKD) that we may not be able to collect the entire amount required for purchasing materials required for repair works”, said Clement Surin. The group work of the community began in the month of June-July 2015. The men were involved in the repair works while the women supported them with food & others. 

PVC Pipe installed for proper drainage

Given the seriousness of the issue, Team SKD thought that it would be appropriate if they could help the community by contributing financially towards purchasing two numbers of PVC pipes of 20 feet each length required for making the drainage on the road. SKD in consultation with the Zonal office of Caritas India decided to contribute the PVC pipes. “Our happiness was doubled when we saw SKD contributing with the PVC pipes”, said Benjamin Guria.  The repair works was finally completed by the community during July 2015. The road today wears a new look & is free of water logging no matter it rains or not.

The community looked happy as well as motivated & it seemed that they found a new lease of life after having repaired the road for good. “We are grateful to SKD friends for having helped us to solve the problem of water logging in our area”, said a happy looking Ms. Albescia Minj.

Contributed by, Cornelius Minj, SKD, Dibrugarh, Assam

Edited by: Prabal Sen, Caritas India, Guwahati