Bargarh: Residents here have chosen a unique way to protest against the administration’s failure to repair Malamanda-Bouddhabihar road in Ganianpali panchayat under Gaisilet block in Bargarh district by planting paddy on the slushy road.
According to the villagers, the road used to be a ‘kutcha’ road. In 2014 the Rural Development department had started repairing the road by laying murram on it. In 2018, work started to make the road a tarmac one. However, work was stopped after two kilometers due to some reasons. The road was brought under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2020. But its fate did not change.
Again the construction work was left after completing another stretch of two kilometres. The road is now in a pathetic state, giving nightmarish experiences to the commuters.
The villagers have now taken up the problem with the administration on several occasions but nothing has been done in this regard yet. Protest the apathy of the administration, they have chosen a unique way of planting paddy saplings on the road.
Later, a delegation of villagers including Tulasiram Seth, Debendra Sahu and a few others went to Collector’s office to submit a memorandum. Since Collector Manisha Banerjee was away on some work, they handed it over to ADM Mirdha Toppo.
They warned they would be forced to resort to a mass agitation if the road was not repaired within seven days.
PNN