Barwaan Kala, in the west of Bihar, is located high in the Kaimur hills and is known locally as the "village of unmarried people".Some 121 villagers aged between 16 and 80 remain bachelors, they say, because of the remoteness of the village. "The biggest problem for us and for outsiders is the difficult hilly terrain to pass through," said 40-year-old bachelor Ram Lal Yadav.

The villagers were given hope during the last state assembly elections when, for the first time since independence, a party candidate on the campaign trail visited them. Ram Chandra Singh Yadav assured the village he too would not get married unless he could get a road for them. However, after winning he got married the following year. The villagers decided to take the law into their own hands. Armed with shovels, chisels, hammers, spades and other tools, they are getting on with the job of constructing the road themselves.

In the past month-and-a-half, they have already laid more than half of the four mile stretch of road on the hilly terrain. Unfortunately, there may still be a big legal hurdle in the way of the men's mission to increase the number of weddings in the village. The area is within a wildlife protected zone, where road construction has to meet strict guidelines and the authorities may force them to give up the project.

Wonder if my bus pass covers that route?

The old road would soon fall into disuse...

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