Meet Govinda Malekudiya: Tired of waiting for a road, this 56-year-old built one himself using just a pickaxe and shovel

When the nation watched 'Manjhi', the story of a labourer from a Bihar village working day and night on a mountain to create a path for his village, many were reduced to tears. It was back in 1960 that he began carving the path using a hammer and chisel and completed it in 22 years, in 1982.

Though India has built countless roads connecting remote areas to cities over the years, there are still places where roads have either never been built or projects have remained stalled for years due to civic and administrative issues.While infrastructure projects often take time, daily life cannot always wait. Faced with years of uncertainty and no immediate solution in sight, 56-year-old Govinda Malekudiya decided to take matters into his own hands.

Ignorance is no bliss

Govinda is a resident of Peradka, in the gram panchayat of Mala, in the taluk of Karkala, in Karnataka. For years, the villagers repeatedly requested that local authorities build a road there. However, nothing happened and the ST colony remained unconnected to the rest of the world.According to environmental activist Arathi Ashok, the issue was highlighted by the media and brought to the attention of the Lokayukta. The body advised the panchayat and the social welfare department to take action.

Even so, according to her, no road has been built for the ST colony so far. Arathi also claimed that she filed an RTI request seeking a response but received no reply.

Carving a path

Tired of no response from the authorities and seeing his people facing issues with travel and access, Govinda decided to take action himself. The 56-year-old, who had been working as a day labourer for almost 30 years, left the job during COVID-19 to dedicate himself to the cause.Using only a pickaxe and a shovel, he made the dirt stretch accessible for vehicles. In the last 30 years, he has laid a total of about 500 meters of road from Sringeri-Mala-Bajagoli-Pulkeri-Mangaluru National Highway near Peradka to Bugatugundi, the first ward road in his colony. He also created a basic drainage system to reduce flooding during the monsoons.As a farmer, he also planted more than 50 seedlings along the road in an initiative of environmental conservation.

He plans to plant more along the Sringeri-Mala-Bajagoli road as a part of the project. Today, his effort has benefited about 25 families from the ST colony. "I have planted a tree in the forest by the forest department. It is comforting to see everyone walking around happily. Our life exists if there is an environment.

Tomorrow, if we don't have an environment, we don't have life," he said.

Limited action from the government

Arathi also reported that after consistently approaching the Lokayuktha, there was a guidance to repair about 200 meters of the road from ward no.1 to Bugatugundi.While the stretch was widened with an excavator, the paving is yet to be done. In 2025, Panchayat development officer, Srinivas S, confirmed that the asphalting had not yet been done. He insisted that those responsible would be held accountable and that the panchayat would try to seek resources through the Integrated Tribal Development Project, the ITDP.Govinda Malekudiya, has become an living icon for his village. As the vehicles drive by and students walk safely to their schools, he smiles with his work, happy to have made a change in their lives. Rather than waiting for the system to finally recognise the need and take action, he became the changemaker and achieved success, improving the lives of many in his village.