Dongrias protest road work, torch community hall

RAYAGADA: Hundreds of Dongria Kondhs under the banner of Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti ransacked the community hall of Dongria Kondha Development Agency (DKDA) at Parshalli under Kalyansinghpur block of the district on Tuesday. They also set some goods and other appliances of the community hall on fire.

They were protesting against the construction of a pucca road and presence of police camp at Parshalli.  The Dongria Kondhs also held a meeting, chaired by the convenor of NSS, Ladda Sikaka, near the panchayat office of Parshalli over the issue.

The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) had recently started the construction work of 5 km stretch of pucca road from Parshalli to Gumma in Niyamgiri hill area. As the area is dominated by Maoists, the administration had started the work with the help of police and CRPF. During the execution of the work, the police and construction agency were using the community hall as their temporary camp. However, due to rain, the road construction work had been stopped for the past one month and the community hall was also locked.

Protesting the road construction and presence of police in the area, Ladda Sikaka said, “We don’t want pucca roads in the Niyamgiri hill areas. Instead, we prefer irrigation facilities, IAY and other welfare schemes in our area.”  Rayagada Additional SP Patitapaban Choudhury said the Maoists are using the innocent Dongria Kondhs as their shield. The ultras do not want development work in Niyamgiri hill area as they will not be able to find a safe place for their hideouts. 

However, action will be taken against the persons who  indulge in vandalism, Patitapaban added.