บท 18: The First Month

After much deliberation, I had decided to divide the project into three stages of forty kilometre each. These stages will then be further divided into patches of a kilometre each.

The reason for stages and sub-stages was to leave room for error. This was Afterall my first project. There were bound to be some mistakes in the way I execute my plans and thoughts. Leaving the science of it all aside, the difference in the eras was enough to scare me regarding the potential of the project.

The forty-kilometre stage was set in a way that after every forty kilometres, we will start pouring coal layer on the paved pathway. After which we will continue to the next stage, giving the previous stage the time, it requires to set and harden.

The kilometre long patches were to be made so that the workers have no trouble doing their best. If the area of work was too stretched out then the workers will not be able to have the same efficiency and output. It was alright for the work to be slow, but it was not alright for it to be sloppy. This project will cement my position in the eyes of the court and the general public, I cannot afford for it to be sloppy.

In the month since the construction began, we had finished thirty-five kilometres of the road without the final layer of coal-tar. It was much faster than I had anticipated.

During the first week we barely managed to finished five odd kilometres of digging and pressing. This instead helped us in understanding the various nooks in the day-to-day problems that each division faced in working together.

The workers were negligent of their health and tools. The Blacksmiths became too focused on the construction of the rolling pins. The doctors were too proud to show basic respect, leading to the workers being reluctant to approach the group unless extremely serious. The masons were busy with wrapping their heads around the technique I was using for the formation of this road, leading to them being negligent in advising the workers on the exact measurements of the road that I had provided them.

With the help of Bhima, Adishri and the elderlies I was able to solve the dilemma of the workers. This led to them being more efficient in their work. Adishri after receiving my support became a bit bold and took it upon herself to demand certain things that the other workers were reluctant to point out.

After Aakash became acquainted with Bhima and Adishri, he began dedicating the required number of blacksmiths and apprentices to the maintenance of tools, while others still focused on the rolling pins.

I had no control over the doctors and did not wish to entangle myself any further than absolutely necessary. So, instead of butting heads with the doctors, I provided Bhima and Adishri with basic instructions to keep and maintain health of the workers. Due to the presence of excess coal, I had advised them that they are to make sure every single person in the camp, be it male, female, child or elderly, drink only water that has been boiled and properly stored.

To ensure this, I had asked for large earthen pots for water storage to be available in the camp. Every morning the water for the camp will be boiled and then placed into these pots throughout the camp. After the water has cooled down, it was safe to drink. This was to be done every morning and the people whose turn it will be will be provided with an off for the morning shift. This incentive was more than enough for the people to follow this rule.

I understood that most diseases in this era are preventable easily through four things namely clean water, healthy food, sanitation and personal hygiene. Clean water was the easiest to achieve in this era where the rivers were still flowing strong and industries had not polluted the natural water bodies. Healthy food could be a bit tricky but still manageable. Personal hygiene was more about personal awareness and habit, which could only be instilled among the population over time. The most difficult to achieve was Sanitation and I currently had no viable alternative to the problem.

The workers were also advised to always readily clean the area of the damaged skin with clean water and seek immediate medical care instead of neglecting it.

I called upon Ajit and informed him that the masons are to focus on their jobs instead of deducing my plans and if I find them this negligent once again there will be consequences.

By the middle of the second week the small hiccups had been overcome and the rate of progress increased dramatically, with it rising every subsequent week.

Seeing that I encouraged creative ideas, a previous farmer under Bhima approached me by suggesting the usage of cows and bulls in digging the ground after the initial work is done by the workers. This was a very smart solution which decreased the digging time by almost a third. After that the workers would work hard to remove the toughest layer of the ground through tools and then they would bring the bulls with metal ploughs on their backs to dig the next layer.

After everyone came back on track the initial five kilometres were redone with proper care for the measurements.

While everyone was busy completing the digging of the ground, the other shift of workers was handed the task of crushing the rocks for the next stage of the project. Covering a forty-kilometre-long ditch with rocks meant a lot of rocks needs crushing. Both the batches were hard at work with no work easier than the other.

The soil that was taken out after the digging was then carried out in carts to an area designated to further crushing and cleaning of the soil. This was collected in order to add it as the third layer of the road. This also decreased the need to worry about where to dump the excavated soil.

The trees that were cut down during this process were used to provide timber and other plant-based products to the kingdom. I always knew that the cost of modernization on the environment was heavy and I was ready to pay for it now. I made sure to write to father in order for him to issue a decree regarding protection of forests and wildlife throughout the kingdom.

After the decree there was some amount of backlash.