Posted on 12/18/2009 2:53:04 PM PST by posterchild
An Indian villager burrowed for 14 years with a hammer and chisel to cut a tunnel through a mountain so that his neighbours could reach nearby fields and he could park his truck outside his home.
Ramchandra Das, 53, who lives in eastern Bihar state, carved a 10m-long, 4m-wide tunnel through the hill range from his village of Kewati. Das took up the Herculean task after villagers found the 7km trek over the mountain increasingly arduous.
When the authorities refused to help to cut the journey time, Das began carving his way through the earth in the direction of the nearest big town, Atri. The job became more pressing when Das became the first man to own a truck in the village and was unable to drive it to his home.
"I could not park my truck near my house since the mountain blocked my path," he told Reuters. Das said he was also afraid of bandits stealing his truck. "I had to leave my truck miles away, so I decided to do something about it myself," Das said by telephone.
Local villagers, who previously had to trek around the mountain, are now using the tunnel to get to work.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
The Guardian said 10m. That doesn’t seem like much. Either they’ve got their numbers wrong, or this guy was union.
He should charge a toll from his freeloading neighbors.
Local villagers, who previously had to trek around the mountain, are now using the tunnel to get to work.
The guy ought to set up a toll booth, charge a minimal sum, and join the Capitalist Class.
Digging through rock with pick-ax, maybe
“I could not park my truck near my house since the mountain blocked my path,”
Somewhere in here there is a great truck commercial!!!
Wonder if he still owns that truck (?)
"Das was inspired by another Bihari villager, Dasharath Manjhi, who cut a 120m-long, 10m-wide and 8m-high passage so that villagers could reach a local hospital."
It almost has to be referring to meters, since it would take a hell of a man to cut a 120 mile, or even 120 kilometer "passage".
This man is exactly the kind of person America should welcome with open arms if they ever wanted to emigrate to the USA. Can-do people who contribute something tangible & beneficial to their communities/country.
The "10m" in the linked article must be a typo. It should probably be 10 km. If so, then he averaged about two meters per day, which sounds reasonable.
Big John? Jimmy Dean
Every mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive He stood six foot six and weighed 2-45 Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip And everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John (Big John Big John) Big Bad John (Big John) Nobody seemed to know where John called home Just drifted into town and stayed all alone He didn't say much he kinda quiet and shy And if you spoke at all you just said hi to Big John
Does anyone think that in America the guy did this, that he wouldn’t have been forced to put it all back in the name of some endagered plant?
"Villager Gets 14 Years For Ecological Terrorism, Underground Meth Lab"
bump
Can’t do that in the US - a bunch of environmentalists would sue.
I hope the guy, in the great capitalist tradition, slapped a toll on use of the tunnel.
Did he get a building permit to dig out the basement? Soils report? Engineering study?
He could still be fined by the damned government for doing what he did.
Everything turned out OK?
Not in the eyes of government bastards, whose sole job is is slow down guys like you neighbor. He was supposed to spend at least a 1/2 a day satisfying THEIR demands BEFORE doing anything constructive.
Yeah, I’ve way past my limit of endurance of the crushing weight of goverment.
Rant off.
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