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00:00BIRDS CHIRP
00:30From the sky, this river shows off its immense power.
01:00As the offspring of the god named Brahma, the river is a capricious giant, holding the
01:05power of life and death over the millions of people along its course.
01:13In India and Bangladesh, the floods of the Brahmaputra River are as destructive as they
01:19are necessary for fertilizing the soil.
01:24The river god originates in the Himalayas, where rapids and rocks prevent any navigation.
01:31Travelers have no choice but to take the parallel roads.
01:46In India, in the foothills of the Himalayas, Rajkumar is one of the few taxis that dare
01:51to challenge the mountains.
01:54This route is far from comforting.
02:01There are roads that need to escape.
02:05This one runs all the time and it is the most competitive option.
02:11We will get all the shores of the Moon and the waters.
02:16We will get to the beach.
02:20We've been going six hours now.
02:24As well as the precipitous cliff edges, there is danger that comes from above.
02:44The mountain walls have been weakened by the monsoon and are unstable.
02:54This section is perhaps the most dangerous part of the route.
03:01Above the road, a kilometre high section of the mountain is bare without a single route
03:06to hold the stones in place.
03:08Rajkumar tries to pass this section as quickly as possible.
03:22A truck arrives from the opposite direction, but the road is only one lane wide.
03:27Now everyone is caught under a rain of falling rocks.
03:38The driver tries to take cover.
03:46Like this panicked traveller who abandoned their car.
03:53With a the water and a bicycle, there are different types of cars.
03:56The cars can't live here.
03:57The cars have a lot of vehicles around the road.
04:02The other cars have closer to the motor.
04:07The car has a lot of cars to make front of the cars.
04:12I push them a little bit.
04:15Rajkumar and his passengers end the journey under a meteor shower.
04:25To follow the river god and navigate along its waters is an act that requires a great deal of courage.
04:30The Brahmaputra stretches 2,900 kilometers across China, India and Bangladesh.
04:47100 million people depend on its waters.
04:53In India the river meanders through lost valleys and the roads that venture into these valleys are formidable.
05:00We have to take care of the river and the roads that we have to take care of the river.
05:07We have to take care of the river and the river.
05:11Provisioning the villages is just as perilous.
05:14Along the Brahmaputra river the nerves of these Indian drivers are truly put to the test.
05:23In Bangladesh the river is often the only means of driving.
05:30Transporting people and animals.
05:40Taking a ferry is just as nerve-wracking.
05:45As the source of life the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are exploited shamelessly.
05:47In India, as in Bangladesh, the overpopulation is so great that a man costs much less than a machine.
05:48In India, as in Bangladesh, the overpopulation is so great that a man costs much less than a machine.
05:49As the source of life the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are exploited shamelessly.
05:54In India, as in Bangladesh, the overpopulation is so great that a man costs much less than a machine.
06:01In India, as in Bangladesh, the overpopulation is so great that a man costs much less than a machine.
06:14From India to Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra is far from being a long, tranquil river.
06:31On the outer reaches of India, the profession of truck driver takes on an entirely new dimension.
06:50There is the taste of adventure, the feeling of blazing a new trail each time they pass through here.
07:06So hostile is the road.
07:08Arjun asks the god of travellers to offer him for, once, a smooth journey.
07:14Arjun asks the fin.
07:18Arjun asks the god of ste所以shambar routine,
07:21and
07:27partner of тобa
07:28Arjun
07:31Arjun
07:38Arjun
07:40Suf
07:40Arjun
07:41Arjun
07:42Arjun
07:44Arjun
07:44is not his only protection in case of an accident Arjun can rely on his two
07:49friends Deepak and Shanu the three truckers never drive alone on the route
07:59to tooting near the Chinese border the 350 kilometers of mountains at the source
08:04of the Brahmaputra at the foot of the Himalayas in the closest proximity to
08:09danger
08:39especially when driving in their old trucks
08:46especially when driving in their old trucks
09:02the conveyors are transporting construction material the most dangerous load
09:07is in Shanu's truck 50 barrels of asphalt 75 kilos each are wobbling in the back of the truck
09:14when they rock too much the driver stops so that they can stabilize otherwise there could be an accident
09:20one of the parts of the route that Shanu and his travel partners dread the most is crossing the old truck
09:27the old truck is an accident
09:29one of the parts of the route that Shanu and his travel partners dread the most
09:35is crossing the old suspended bridge
09:50the old suspended bridge
09:54the same
10:02and
10:04for example
10:06the
10:09the
10:11the
10:14the
10:15the
10:17the
10:19the
10:23This is the police.
10:25Now, here's the police.
10:27Look, it's been cut out.
10:29The cops are still on the road.
10:31It's been cut out.
10:33It's been cut out.
10:35It's been cut out.
10:45You should see the site.
10:47You should see the site.
10:49You should see the site.
10:51You should see the site.
10:53You should see the site.
10:55They mustn't let the barrels
10:57of asphalt rock the truck,
10:59which would cause the old bridge to sway.
11:01The structure might not be able
11:03to withstand too much movement.
11:13This is how we're moving.
11:15We're moving.
11:21This time it held fast, but for how much longer remains to be seen.
11:31In some places the route is paved.
11:33Despite the loose stones, it's a godsend for the conveyors,
11:35so they can drive faster.
11:37The three men are only paid when the goods are delivered,
11:39regardless of how many days they spend on the road.
11:41It's just that smooth journeys here are extremely difficult.
11:43It's just that smooth journeys here are extremely difficult.
11:45The three men are only paid when the goods are delivered,
11:47the three men are only paid when the goods are delivered,
11:49regardless of how many days they spend on the road.
11:51The three men are only paid when the goods are delivered,
11:53the three men are only paid when the goods are delivered,
11:55regardless of how many days they spend on the road.
12:07It's just that smooth journeys here are extremely rare.
12:11A belt is about to give out.
12:39It's falling apart with age, worn down with each acceleration.
12:43A belt is about to stop the поверхness of the road.
12:45Since we have a lot of people driving for the city,
12:47this is how we get up.
12:49Let's see what happens is that a lot of people having that.
12:50You have to take a lot of people driving and the other.
12:52It's like this, you should be a part of a little room as well.
12:55A whole lot of people driving across the entire city,
12:57and you should drive to the park.
12:58Great.
12:59You have to take a lot of people driving here.
13:01On the street, there are no cars too Ðntilipers.
13:02Today, at this place, there are no cars.
13:03There are no cars driving, there are no cars.
13:08There are no cars as well.
13:09There are no cars where there are no cars that are in the road.
13:11Even if they've just lost an hour, the drivers have done well.
13:22Tomorrow a different story awaits, the last 160 kilometres which require at least two
13:28days of travel when everything goes smoothly.
13:41In the mountains, the Brahmaputra River cannot be taken by boat, but as soon as it reaches
13:46the plains, it becomes navigable for nearly 1,300 kilometres.
13:51This is a kind of river highway used every year by thousands of Bangladeshi herders.
13:57All of them prefer travel by boat, as it's faster and safer than by truck, well, almost.
14:11In a few days, it will be the feast of Eid al-Kabir.
14:18For this celebration, Muslim families buy a cow to sacrifice.
14:24They head off to the markets.
14:44On his floating cattle carrier, Manik loads about 30 cows weighing 500 kilos.
15:03Manik loads about 30 cows weighing 500 kilos.
15:10Manik heads for Aricha Market, about 30 kilometres downstream from the Brahmaputra River.
15:17He'll therefore be sailing with the current.
15:32However, this part of the river remains unpredictable.
15:36The sandbanks constantly move around, creating traps where Manik does not expect them.
15:57I think he must have been in danger all over the streets.
16:14In operation, Hallroom.
16:17Many people will continue moving towardsward.
16:23The other danger comes from the cows.
16:29They can't stand the swaying of the boat.
16:53Becoming a breeder was his life's dream.
17:04Gulga saved for 25 years before he could afford two cows.
17:09A few years later they had calves and he's proud to have raised his family out of poverty.
17:16There are two cows, two cows, and three cows.
17:23We have to feed the cows.
17:27We have to feed the cows.
17:37An hour later the Aricha market is in sight.
17:40Here thousands of animals will change hands in just a few hours.
17:46The animals are restless and becoming out of control.
17:53Gulga has seven cows for sale but that day he nearly didn't make a dime.
18:10The animals are restless and becoming out of control.
18:14...
18:29...
18:33And above all it requires patience. The buyers have all the power, they have ample choice, so prices are not on the rise.
19:03And the buyers are playing hardball. This man's cow broke its leg when it got off the boat. Three traders are trying to negotiate the price down.
19:19But if the market is not on the rise, you will buy it.
19:33Our losers are playing hardball.
19:37And as they are doing it, the reason is this is the price.
19:41And a lot of unemployment is not on the rise.
19:45350 euros for a cow worth 700 the man has lost the equivalent of five months of salary
19:55in bangladesh a farmer earns only three euros a day on average
19:59at the end of the day gulga is also somewhat disillusioned his dreams vanishing
20:15tomorrow the farmer will take his cows to a new market hoping to have better luck
20:29on the indian side of the brahmaputra river arjun deepak and shanu are attacking their second day
20:44on the road in the mountains they still have 160 kilometers to go to reach the town of tooting
20:49the three friends begin the riskiest part of the journey
20:53so
20:58I don't know.
21:28I don't know, the water is in the river.
21:31We have to eat this.
21:32We don't need to eat this.
21:34I don't know.
21:36I don't know.
21:38We've been living in 10 years.
21:41We have to be aware of the food and food.
21:46We know the food system.
21:50We have to be aware of it.
21:58The trucks don't go faster than 15 km an hour and they're better off that way.
22:05A week ago the road here collapsed. This section has only just reopened.
22:22Arjun is the first to pass and a mistake of just a few centimeters would send him over the edge of the cliff.
22:28Sanu, who has the heaviest truck, is not very confident, but Deepak even less so.
22:58Fire.
23:01Good!
23:03Fire!
23:06Fire!
23:08Fire!
23:10Fire!
23:12Fire!
23:14Fire!
23:15I'm going to go.
23:17I'm going to go.
23:19Go.
23:21Go.
23:23Go.
23:25Go.
23:27Go.
23:29Go.
23:35After all the stress on the road,
23:37the drivers take a break to release their tension,
23:40and especially to cool down as it's 35 degrees.
23:43The heat is stifling.
23:59I like this!
24:01Woo!
24:08I'm going to go.
24:10I've taken it from my own.
24:12I've taken it from my own.
24:14I've taken it from my own car.
24:16It's hot.
24:18It's been raining.
24:20I've been drinking water.
24:22I've eaten food with my own.
24:24I've eaten food with my own Queen Chling.
24:40Each kilometre gained is a small victory,
24:42even if the road that remains is still long and full of dangers.
24:47In the Brahmaputra valley, not everyone depends on the road, even if some villages are located
25:15in extremely isolated places.
25:24This suspended footbridge is the only connection between the Addis tribe and civilization.
25:45The members of the tribe take the bridge when they go to barter along the road.
25:58The Addis are almost completely self-sufficient.
26:02The only products they buy from time to time are sugar, tea, salt and some clothes.
26:15The Addis earn the little money they do have at the top of this mountain, more than an hour's walk away.
26:31Cayenne and Sum climb up the mountain every day to collect a small seed that is worth its weight in gold.
26:37And they earn every penny as this forest is filled with some not-so-friendly bugs.
26:43The Addis's
26:44In the Brahmaputra valley
26:45The Addis was the first place of 100 years of the land.
26:46As the generation, the
27:13This treasure is worth braving a few leeches.
27:21Cardamom is a much sought-after spice.
27:24Its seeds may flavor many dishes, but harvesting it is no easy task.
27:43The sloping terrain makes the work even harder, but the village did not hesitate to cut down its orange trees in order to plant cardamom.
28:06After saffron and vanilla, it's the third most expensive spice on the planet.
28:13This is the first place where the land is worth 40-50 pounds.
28:29The land is worth 300 pounds.
28:34Each family earns about 300 euros a year.
28:38While it's not much, it's more than enough to live in the Brahmaputra Valley.
28:43Each family earns their blood pressure.
28:46In fact, it's very delicious.
28:49The land is a huge amount of waste.
28:53Now, they will bring it in the house.
28:57We will put it in the house but we will send the slaughter.
29:01We will bring it in the house.
29:04We will bring it here.
29:06However, their paradise could soon disappear.
29:14The village is situated at a point on this river which is attracting interest.
29:36Despite their opposition to the project, the Addis tribe are unlikely to win their cause.
29:56150 dams are planned in the region.
30:00India needs the electricity to sustain its growth.
30:06Today, its population has reached 1.3 billion people.
30:18In a few years, the country will overtake China in terms of population.
30:22Soon, there will be nothing left of these landscapes.
30:36For 16 hours now, the three truckers have been driving almost non-stop.
30:41At 11 p.m., the engines are silent.
30:46The drivers' struggles, their fatigue and their tired bodies, battered by the jolts in the road,
31:04never seem to affect their morale.
31:05None of these three would trade their job for another.
31:07Their friendship has only grown on the road.
31:09They take pleasure in camping together.
31:13They take pleasure in camping together.
31:27It's lights out at midnight, they make their beds using the canvas on the top of their trucks.
31:53On the morning of the third day, the drivers have only travelled 270 km.
32:19They still have almost 80 km to go before reaching their final destination, the city of Tuting on the Chinese border.
32:26The city of Tuting on the Chinese border.
32:33The city of Tuting on the Chinese border.
32:39The city of Tuting on the Chinese border.
32:46The city of Tuting on the Chinese border.
32:50Isn't that bad?
32:51The city of Tuting's head is on the West border.
32:52The city is smaller, but...
32:53...the city's a name.
32:54The city says 30,000…
32:55It's good, Arjun.
33:02It's good.
33:04It's good.
33:05It's good.
33:06It's good.
33:07It's boring.
33:08It's good.
33:09It's good.
33:10It's good.
33:16Arjun spoke too soon.
33:17While this slope looks like nothing,
33:19it's not going to let them pass so easily.
33:25It's good.
33:26It's good.
33:28We're gonna go.
33:30It's good.
33:32We're going to go.
33:34It's good.
33:36Just about two metres of road covered in an hour and still more to go.
34:06India and Bangladesh are countries of contrasts.
34:34On the one hand, they have become giants in the computer and textile industries, but
34:39on the other hand, the industrial methods they use are sometimes obsolete.
34:44Their economic growth is strong while poverty persists.
34:48To survive, many Indians and Bangladeshis still practice professions from another age.
34:56In Bangladesh, the bed of the Dolay River is massacred by dredges, and yet the land contains
35:16no precious minerals.
35:31These men are pebble fishers.
35:33Huge pumps suck up water from the bottom of the river and bring up the pebbles, which will
35:38then be crushed into gravel for the construction industry.
35:53This profession is especially profitable after monsoons.
35:57The raging waves carry thousands of tons of stones from the mountains.
36:00The
36:29The shores are also torn apart.
36:39The rocks on the banks are smashed to pieces,
36:41and when the pebbles are lifted, they get crushed.
36:59The banks of the river will have disappeared, sacrificed on the altar of the god of growth.
37:18The tons of rock that have been reduced to gravel are heading for Dhaka.
37:31The capital of Bangladesh is booming, 17 million people, and its population is still growing.
37:48Like the Dalai river, the river that runs through the capital is also under a lot of stress.
37:58Its waters are among the most polluted in the world.
38:01The Bangladeshis dump everything into it, without limits.
38:05One of the biggest polluters and providers of jobs are the Karanigan shipyards.
38:30Here, men replace machines as they cost much less.
38:34They don't need maintenance, and when they get sick, there's always one to take their place.
38:38They dismantle, repair and refurbish any ship with crude methods.
38:43The river, the people trying to do it, puts them on the boat.
39:01If they're done, they'll get sick.
39:03Then, they'll be running again.
39:07The noise is deafening.
39:15To protect their eardrums, they use a simple ball of cloth as an earplug.
39:37Those who overlooks sunburns are the ones who watch the waves of the streets.
39:42A small part is a small part.
39:45This if you don't have an earplug.
39:48The music is short but still doesn't have to do that.
39:51It has to be an extraordinary time.
39:53The music is so versatile.
39:56The music is so beautiful.
40:00The music is so beautiful.
40:04The music is so beautiful.
40:06Every year, the 15,000 workers build and refurbish nearly 600 boats, but paradoxically, even if they pollute heavily, the shipyard still has an environmentally friendly system.
40:36The Bangladeshi genius is to make recycling an economy in its own right.
40:4430% of the country's metal needs come from the recycling of old ships.
40:58The yard manager is proud to show us the achievements made with the few means he has at his disposal.
41:06It's a old one ship, but running. The ship owner wanted to enlarge the capacity.
41:13Here we cut off at the middle, and we pulled the front end much different distance, and the new construction is done in the middle one.
41:26In the middle, it's totally new, totally new, totally new version, totally new.
41:32It was joined over here. It was joined. So now it's a big ship.
41:39Some boats are so large that their bows are just a few meters from apartment buildings.
41:54On the construction site, the work pace is constant.
41:57The ships have to stay in the hold for as little time as possible,
42:01so there's no question of losing time worrying about safety conditions.
42:05Alam is a foreman. He pushes the workers to work as quickly as possible.
42:23Alam is a foreman. He pushes the workers to work as quickly as possible.
42:30Ram is a foreman. He pushes the workers to work as quickly as possible.
43:00It is impossible to know how many workers are injured or die each year on the construction site, but their wages do not at all tally up with the risks they take.
43:15The most experienced workers earn 10 euros a day.
43:30Ruben earns 5 euros, just enough to feed his wife and daughter.
43:49All three share this 9 square meter room. Ruben hopes to move up quickly to make his dream come true.
44:00All three share this money.
44:04All three share this money.
44:06All three share this money.
44:09All three share this money.
44:13Most Bangladeshis are working in exhausting jobs.
44:18Indians too. Life is no easier on the road.
44:21Arjun, Deepak and Shanu know something about it.
44:30For three hours now the drivers have been trying to get over this small hill.
44:36But Arjun's old engine is not strong enough.
44:39Every meter he advances is earned with sweat and tears.
44:44He finally makes it over.
45:00Now everyone is praying that the other two trucks get over the hurdle without any trouble.
45:04The men are at the end of their rope.
45:22They have been trying to reach the town of Tuting on the Chinese border for three days now.
45:27Despite everything, Arjun takes every obstacle with a dose of philosophy.
45:39In the Brahmaputra valley, travelling, delivering or simply returning to your family is a kind of bravery.
46:04In Bangladesh, getting around also requires a little patience and courage.
46:21Especially on those ferries.
46:27All these ships fight a naval battle in the true sense of the word.
46:31The captains don't hesitate to ram other boats to be the first to disembark and reload the travellers as quickly as possible.
46:38From Dhaka, the ferry is sometimes the only way to reach the most inaccessible parts of the country.
46:43Departing in a hurry, the ships don't leave the docks smoothly.
47:02All these passengers are returning to their families to celebrate Eid al-Kibir.
47:24Arrivals and departures are a constant source of stress.
47:36Even for old sea dogs like Captain Yunus.
47:43Straight ahead and come what may, Captain Yunus wants to be the first on the platform.
47:55Good luck to any ferry that gets in his way.
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