Sandwiched between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand comprises 13 districts from both the states. With extreme temperatures in summers and winters, the region is prone to severe drought in the summers. With many of the tribal hamlets located on the hilly terrains, proper connectivity to mainstream society is still a distant dream for many in Bundelkhand. Hardai village, located in the hilly regions of Lalitpur district of Bundelkhand, had no road connectivity to the nearest village of Matakhera, apart from a 500-metre stretch of a road that connected them to the primary school of the locality and a few surrounding areas. However, every year during monsoon, the road became extremely slippery forcing the locals to depend on a longer route, an additional distance of 3 kilometers to reach their destinations. So, when our team motivated and encouraged them to work on this issue, 10 individuals from Hardai decided to work for three days under Goonj’s ‘Dignity For Work’ initiative towards the repair of their village road (60ft x 6ft). Moreover, to prevent the road from becoming slippery again, the participants also laid stone-chips collected from the nearby hills along the length of the road. Goonj rewarded their efforts with essential Rahat Kits. Today, the school-goers of Hardai no longer have to take a long walk, but instead, can reach their school by covering just a distance of 500 metres, and that according to them is the best thing that has happened to the village in a very long time.
