SAMBALPUR: Boats are the only mode of transport to Kud Gunderpur gram panchayat in Dhankauda block of the district, located around 25 km from here.
The gram panchayat comprising six villages, Kud Gunderpur, Kud Tabda, Kud Jampali, Kud Amlipali, Kud Mahada and Kud Patakhai, is situated on a patch of land on Mahanadi river. The river island measuring around 7 km in length and 2 km in width is inhabited by around 5,000 villagers and they depend on boats to reach other places of the district and shift patients to hospitals. The villages remain cut off from the rest of the world as crossing the swelling Mahanadi river during monsoon becomes an extremely risky affair.
Though there is no shortage of water for cultivation, villagers find it tough to sell agricultural produce in the markets in the absence of road connectivity even after more than 70 years of Independence. Work on a 450-metre long bridge to connect the river island with the mainland was started in 2016.
However, it is far from complete. Prabhanjan Purohit of Kud Gunderpur village said once the bridge is completed, all woes of the villagers would come to an end. “We can sell our agriculture produce in Sambalpur city and avail treatment even during rainy season,” he said.
Apart from the six habitations under Kud Gunderpur gram panchyat, 185 other habitations in the district come under ‘zero connectivity habitation’ due to hilly terrain, forest and absence of bridge. Of the total 191 zero connectivity habitations, as many as 121 in the district lack connectivity due to lack of bridge over nullahs or rivers flowing near the village.
When the attention of Sambalpur Collector Samarth Verma was drawn towards ‘zero connectivity habitations’ in the district, he said a survey has already been conducted in this regard. He confirmed that there are 191 zero connectivity habitations in the district. The work to connect the habitations will be undertaken as per requirement, Verma said. “The work on requisite bridges or roads to connect the zero connectivity habitations will begin shortly,” he added.