No bridge, no vote in Hathia village

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A nondescript village in this eastern Uttar Pradesh district has found a way to protest the failure of the state government to construct a bridge over a river to connect it with the main city.

They have decided to boycott the February 11 voting to the state assembly.

Hathia village, though located as the crow flies some 800 meters from the main city, people have to take a 11-km long journey to reach the city centre.

Their demand for a bridge over river Tamsa has been pending for the past three years with the state government.

"Our anger towards the government and the ruling party is that they did not listen to us. We are angry at other political parties because they did not raise our issue at various levels.

We have, therefore, decided not to cast vote,” said Sujit Bhushan, a teacher from the village with 3000 voters, who had been leading the movement. A board with words ‘pul nahin to vote nahin’ (no bridge, no vote) has been hung up at the entrance of the village.

Bhushan said boat is a costly and dangerous means to cross the river on a daily basis.

"The city is already crowded and has no space for expansion. The village is huge and has several hectares of land which can be used to construct schools and hospitals to meet the increasing demands of the district headquarters," he said.

He claimed that various political parties have been coming to the village requesting people to end the protest.

Hathia is not the only village in UP to adopt this protest mode. On Thursday, the entire village of Kathua along the river Rapti in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district boycotted the assembly poll protesting the authorities failure to provide a bridge for them over the river.

However, it is to be seen whether the villagers of Hathia will go ahead with their protest on Saturday when the 10 constituencies of the district go for poll.