ASSAM: In the summer of 2010, Shukur Ali, then 18, had barely managed to take shelter under a tree near river Silai at Modati village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district amid heavy rain when he spotted a motley group of students wailing.
The children were to write their board examination at a school across the river, but no boatman was available to ferry them in the rain.
Ali, a farmer, scurried to arrange a boat for the boys, who were eventually ferried in batches amid strong winds and high waves. However, only those who had crossed over early managed to appear in the exam, the others couldn’t.
Deeply moved by the incident, Ali decided to build a bamboo bridge over the river so that no other student had to experience such a trauma in the future, but what stood in his way was lack of resources. He sought help for crowdfunding but none in his nondescript Modati village came forward as the villagers were mostly daily wagers.
But that didn’t break his resolve. He picked up odd jobs for over a year and managed to save enough to purchase a country boat. Between 2011 and 2012, Ali tirelessly ferried people across the river and saved all he could to build to realise his dream.
It was finally in the winter of 2012 that Ali built a bamboo bridge over the flood-prone river.
It took him nearly a month to complete the task. Buoyed by the success, Ali built another bridge, this time over a beel (or a billabong), which further reduced the distance between Modati and Rangamati village by at least 25 km.
Both the bridges cost around Rs 35,000. Initially, they had hired a few labourers, then later several students came forward to help him construct the bridges.
Noor Mohammad, a resident of Modati, said, villagers, especially students, used a wooden bridge to cross the river to reach Rangamati, which has the region’s only college and high schools. “After that bridge collapsed in 2008-09 due to floods, communication between the villages were snapped, compounding the miseries of the residents of Modati and a few other nearby villages.
A detour through Gauripur town, Darchuka and Silaipar villages — where a bridge is located — would cost one around Rs 70 on transportation. The two bridges that Ali built, reduced the distance between the villages by nearly 25 km.
Now, one has to pay only Rs 20,” Noor said, adding that the two bridges were “lifeline” for the villagers. Separated by the river, Modati and the neighbouring Debitola, Alamganj and Khudabagra villages are dependent on Rangamati for government healthcare facilities, pharmacies, high schools, and college. Even the regions most government offices are located in Rangamati.
“When the wooden bridge had collapsed, crossing the river, especially at night, was very risky. It was riskier in the monsoons.
Students suffered the most. Several of them had even dropped out. So, when I could amass around Rs 15,000, I started building the bridge by engaging some daily wage labourers. Later, some students joined in,” Ali said, adding that together they managed to keep the local politicians, who had initially refused to reach out, at bay.
For the first few months, Ali charged a token amount from the people using the first bridge.
“I saved the money and used it to build a second bridge in due course of time,” he said. Repeated floods, however, continues to take a toll on the modest bamboo bridge every year.
The two bridges have to be repaired each year following the monsoon, Ali said.
The monsoon is yet to hit Assam this year but the bridges are already partly under the water following heavy rains in the region. Ali added that while local traders donate generously for the annual upkeep, a concrete bridge was what the area needed.
The area reports an average of 50-60 boat mishaps each year, especially during the rains but no one died as the villagers know swimming.
“In 2011-2012, when I worked as a boatman, I rowed at night on several occasions to ferry patients, especially pregnant women, across the river, but it was fraught with risks,” Ali said. Ali’s uncle, Hasen, said the 27-year-old has been compassionate all along. “He always tries to help people in whatever way he can.
He might be a poor farmer, but has a big heart.” It was due to his popularity, that Ali contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Dhubri.
A Class XII graduate, Ali, lost to perfume baron and All India United Democratic Front chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, but emerged seventh among the 16 contenders with 0.46 per cent vote share. “Villagers wanted me to contest the polls. They thought people would vote for me for my philanthropic work. But elections are a different ball game altogether,” Ali said.