SRIKAKULAM: As many as 2,000 students from various colleges staged a sit-in on Monday demanding widening of the Rajam Road alleging that regular traffic congestions are leading to road accidents.
With the fatal incident of a college girl who died in a road mishap at Rajam on Sunday, students squatted on the road for four hours raising slogans while vehicular traffic stranded up to a few kilometers due to the protest.
Vajrapu Devi (19) who was pursuing her final year in a local degree college was hit by a lorry while she was on the way to a marriage function at Rajam from her village along with her father on a motorcycle. Devi received severe injuries while her father escaped with minor wounds. However, local people rushed her to the GMR Hospital and the doctor said that since her condition was critical, she should be referred to a hospital in Visakhapatnam. The victim died on her way to Visakhapatnam.
Since the project got the approval, authorities started demolishing the government institutions and other buildings as part of the widening of the road to an extent of 80 feet. But the works did not progress owing to payment of compensation to the oustees. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu recently at Rajam assured the people that road widening works would be expedited.
The students called off the agitation on an assurance over phone by the district administration.