‘World has reached the moon, we still carry children’: 80-year wait for bridge in Chhattisgarh's Sonpal village

RAIPUR: “The world has reached the moon, but we still carry our children on our shoulders across the stream to help them reach school.” That is how residents of remote Sonpal village in Durgukondal block of Kanker district describe an eight-decade wait for a bridge they say has been promised by successive governments but never built.For villagers, the missing bridge is not merely an infrastructure gap. During the rains, it determines whether children can reach school, whether families can travel for work or treatment, and whether anyone can cross the village boundary without risking a fall into the swollen stream.Videos of parents carrying children on their shoulders through the flooded crossing have surfaced on social media, drawing attention to the village’s daily struggle.One of the women said villagers had even travelled to the state capital with applications seeking a bridge, but nothing changed. “It feels as if we are still not part of independent India,” she said.“The four months of monsoon are the worst. If someone falls ill, an ambulance cannot reach us. Children miss school, and sometimes their books get washed away in the water,” she said. “How are our children supposed to go to school? If they have to attend, the only option is for parents to carry them on their shoulders, otherwise their uniforms get soaked and covered in mud. They fall and others are so short, they can't stand in that water. Who would understand our pain? A bridge has to be built here.”Village head Sanuram Dugga said generations have lived with the same demand. “Our fathers and grandfathers kept asking for this bridge and died waiting. Now our generation is asking for it,” he said. “Governments come and go— everyone said it would be built. The promises were made, not the bridge.”A 2.3km blacktop road, constructed about three years ago at a cost of crores, exists on both sides of the stream. But in between, the road gets inundated during the monsoon.During the monsoon, villagers say adults wade across at considerable risk, while younger children are carried on shoulders or backs to get them safely to the other side.Women in the village — Iswanti Rana, Subhadra Patel, Sagro Bai Dugga, Basanti Kumeti and Somari Yadav — said they have heard the same assurance since they got married in Sonpal: “The bridge will be built this year.” Now, their children are bearing the brunt.Residents say the absence of a crossing affects not only schoolchildren but anyone needing to reach markets, hospitals, workplaces or government offices outside the village.Mahendra Singh Thakur, a sub-engineer with the Bridge Corporation in Kanker, told reporters that the Sonpal bridge has been included in the 2026-27 budget and that a fresh estimate will now be prepared and forwarded for further action.For Sonpal, however, an estimate is still not a bridge.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Raipur | Silver Rate in Raipur | Bank Holidays in Raipur | Public Holidays in Raipur | Raipur AQI | Weather in Raipur | Petrol Price in Raipur | Diesel Price in Raipur | CNG Price in Raipur | LPG Price in RaipurStay updated with the latest Raipur news. Download the TOI App.