KORAPUT: With the panchayat polls nearing, people of some villages in Koraput district have taken this opportunity to put forth their demands while some have reportedly threatened to boycott the elections if the promises made in past are not fulfilled.
The people of villages under Narayanpatna and Dasmanthpur blocks have decided to not participate in the democratic process as a show of protest.
With their repeated appeals for development falling on deaf ears, the villagers of Kilimisi in Borigi panchayat under Narayanpatna block decided to boycott the panchayat elections. A villager Mali Himirika said, though their village is situated 23 km from Narayanpatna block headquarters and three km from Borigi panchayat headquarters there is no proper road communication and electricity. Though the matter was apprised to the district administration and block authorities several times no one turned up, said Basu Mandi, another villager.
Communication to the village got disrupted after a culvert was swept away in the last floods. The villagers are unable to approach weekly markets either for doing business or purchasing products, he added. The irate villagers recently held a meeting and decided to boycott the polls if the bridge was not reconstructed and electricity supplied before the elections.
In Dasmanthpur block, people of five villages from Pindapadar and Lula panchayats are virtually disconnected from the mainland in the absence of road communication, since Independence. There are no roads to the villages of Podogudi, Neroka, Barokaudi, Gaisil and Nargacha while Nargach and Gaisil villages have no electricity, souces said.
The villagers said, Palli Sabha and Grama Sabha meetings were conducted by the authorities to construct roads, but all have gone in vain, a villager alleged.