Maha ‘Mountain Man’ built 40-km roads in 57 yrs

The 84-year-old Rajaram <g data-gr-id="31">Bhapkar</g>, a former teacher at <g data-gr-id="32">Gundegaon</g> village in Ahmednagar district, has cut through seven hills in last 57 years to make 40-km roads and is a respected across the region for his feat.

Bhapkar, known affectionately as ‘Bhapkar Guruji’, is a simple <g data-gr-id="35">villager</g>, clad in a white shirt and pajama and sporting a Gandhi cap. However, beneath this simplicity lies a steely resolve, which moved the mountains, literally.

“At the time of Independence, there was not even a ‘paywat’ (walking trail) connecting <g data-gr-id="37">Gundegaon</g> to adjoining village,” said <g data-gr-id="38">Bhapkar</g>, who has studied till seventh standard in Modi language, said. 

When <g data-gr-id="43">Bhapkar</g>, who worked in <g data-gr-id="44">zilla</g> <g data-gr-id="45">parishad</g> school between 1957 and 1991, was working at <g data-gr-id="46">Kolegaon</g>, people from his villages had to cross three villages to reach there. Bhapkar remembers appealing to government authorities to build a road cutting across the 700-metre high Santosha hill.

With no help forthcoming, he embarked on a journey of grit and determination, which 57 years later would result in seven roads, altogether 40-km-long, linking his village to the adjoining villages.

Earlier, the route to <g data-gr-id="40">Kolegaon</g> via Deulgaon was 29-km-long. The distance became just 10 km after Bhapkar, through sheer grit, cut through the hill and made a <g data-gr-id="41">kuchcha</g> road.

He paid wages from his pocket to those who accompanied him in the road work. “I used to spend half my salary on their wages. Not a single rupee from the government has been spent on the road work,” he said.

“In 1968, not even a cycle could pass through the earlier walking trail. Now, big vehicles ply on this road,” a villager said.

Bhapkar completed the road in 1997. Bhapkar said he spent his entire <g data-gr-id="30">post retirement</g> earning and pension to fund the road work. Besides working with spade and shovel, he also hired heavy duty excavator machines for expediting the road work.