Dasmanthpur: Despite the state government’s tall claims on bringing in development throughout Odisha, there are some villages in Koraput district where the residents are yet to get a taste of development, a report said Wednesday. The harrowing tale of the dwellers of Routput village along the Chabri River is a case at this point. The administration is yet to connect this riparian village under Adamunda Malkangiri panchayat of Dasmanthpur block in Koraput district with the outside world through the construction of a bridge.
As a result, the residents and students have to wade across the river to attend to their works as well as school. The river has proved a roadblock in the development of the village. The district administration and the state government, although aware of the problem, are yet to construct a bridge and alleviate the suffering of the villagers. While crossing the river is relatively easier during summer and winter, it is a risky proposition for them to cross the swollen river in the rainy season. Bereft of any other option, the students endanger themselves and cross the river in knee-deep water during rains. The village surrounded by rivers and streams, forests, and hills does not figure in the development map and the residents continue to live a life of seclusion and deprivation due to lack of a bridge.
Sources said that the village has a population of 900 comprising 120 families but has not seen any development to date. The Chabri River has turned into a curse for them and deprived them of basic amenities and development. The villagers have to depend on Chabri River which is the only route for them to connect with the outside world. They cross the river all around the year to travel to any destination across the river. However, things go out of hand when the rainy season arrives, alleged villagers Rama Chandra Goud, Amir Takri, Kunti Khara, and Lakshman Goud. The villages remain waterlogged during the monsoon season.
In the absence of any road or bridge, students wade through knee-deep water to reach their school during the rainy season. Their studies get hit if the water level rises in the river. Left with no option, the students remain at home without going to school.
Some of the students are accompanied by their guardians who drop them at school while others face all kinds of difficulties in crossing the swollen river. This is not the lone problem of the villagers as they face immense difficulties in carrying patients to the hospitals, visiting the local market to buy provisions, subsidised rice from panchayat office, and getting allowances, and the old age pension. They have knocked on the doors of the local block development officer and the district administration praying for the construction of a bridge on the river but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The villagers said that if the administration constructs a bridge, it will be easier to construct a road to the village. The villagers warned to boycott polls in the next general elections if the district administration fails to intervene and construct a bridge.