One would think that a country perennially facing infrastructure inadequacy would treasure what it has built. But years of crumbling bridges and potholed roads have belied the hope that we can ensure such care for precious new constructions. But when a 60-foot, 30-tonne iron bridge gets ‘stolen’ overnight, we must admit that our sense of looking after public goods is glaringly absent. This is true for the administration, which in Chhattisgarh’s Korba could not ensure the bridge’s safety or the quick capture of the culprits, as well as the public, who could not stay vigilant enough to stop the theft of the 40-year-old structure that was meticulously dismantled and carted off. If the value of common goods is not inculcated at an early age, individual greed will always have a chance to hoodwink the law.