Indian teenager builds bridge to help kids get to school

17-year-old Eshan Balbale standing on the bridge he built for the community

17-year-old Mumbai boy, Eshan Balbale has emerged as a hero for the kids at Sathe Nagar. Eshan has built a makeshift bamboo bridge for the children of this vicinity who earlier used to walk across a stream of dirty industrial slush to reach the other end to get to their school. Class XII student of Bedekar College, Thane, Eshan knew that the constant demands and requests made by the citizens for help were turned down by the authorities and the politicians. Complains were unheard and so the locals had to live in an unhealthy condition. However, parents decided to not let their kids walk through the chemical waste as it could be extremely harmful to their health. The only other road to the school is a 1.5-kilometer detour and there is hardly any auto-rickshaw available in the area. Even schools saw high drop out rates of the kids who came from Sathe Nagar.
Picture of the road without the bridge after the cut

Kids walk through the dirt before the bridge was built

Determined to help kids get back to school to continue their education, Eshan built a temporary bridge in just 7 days. Years of application and request to the administration had yielded no result. The make shift bamboo bridge connects Sathe Nagar to the PGMP colony. It is 100 feet long and 4 feet wide and can take up the weight of 50 people at a time.

Source: IndiaToday