ROADS TO REVIVAL

The construction of all-weather roads connecting remote villages has revitalised India's rural landscape

- AVANEESH MISHRA

For decades, India's rural heartlands grappled with woefully inadequate road infrastructure. In 2000-01, the country had just 1.97 million km of rural roads. Many villages were connected by muddy trails or khadanja (brick-paved) paths that turned treacherous during the monsoons and remained barely navigable throughout the year. Accessing schools, healthcare and markets was an arduous daily struggle. Farmers, the backbone of rural India, bore the brunt of this isolation. Transporting produce to markets was a Herculean task, with perishable crops often rotting in the absence of reliable and fast road connectivity, slashing incomes and threatening livelihoods. Medical emergencies became life-threatening because hospitals were always very arduous journeys awayeven if there were an ambulance facility, the impassable terrain would intervene. This grim scenario epitomised the stark urban-rural divide, leaving vast swathes of the country disconnected and underdeveloped, their potential untapped.

THE EASE OF LIVING