Gyan Singh Neengwal wasn't going to let the little matter of a mountain get in the way of his plan to build a short-cut to the nearest town.
Fed up with a nine mile round trip walk every time he and other villagers needed to stock up on supplies or visit the nearest clinic, he decided to construct a direct road over the hilltop. Three years after he began the challenge using only hand tools, the road has just been completed.
A report in India's Daily Bhaskar newspaper said the industrious 40-year-old completed the 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometers) long road, which measures 5ft wide, with the help of his two wives, who pitched in from time to time. Other villagers also helped after seeing his initial dedication to the idea and realising how the project could make everyone's life better if it was completed.
Mr Neengwal makes his living as a farmer in a hamlet close to Niwali, about 100 miles south of the city of Indore, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Much of the work on the road was done in between his work in the fields.
The achievement of Mr Neengwal, which provides a short-cut for 70 families living in his hamlet, echoes that of the late Dashrath Manjhi, a poor, illiterate labourer from Atri, close to Bodh Gaya in the north Indian state of Bihar.
