BALASORE: Alleging poor maintenance of the road between Kapasia and Paschimbad in Jaleswar block due to official apathy, residents of more than 10 villages submitted a memorandum to Collector K Sudarshan Chakraborty on Tuesday demanding its widening and repair besides proper drainage and lighting on both sides.
The villagers had been carrying out a signature drive in this connection since a week and on Monday, had blocked the road at Bartana for five hours. The 14-km road between Kapasia and Paschimbad was constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in different phases more than 13 years back, to address connectivity problem of the area.
In 2012, the importance of the road became apparent after a bridge over the Subarnarekha river was built at Palia in Baliapal block and people from Baliapal, Jaleswar and Bhograi blocks started depending on it.
Over the years, however, resentment started brewing among the villagers as no road repair was carried out by the Public Works department (PWD).
Expressing concern, Paschimbad sarpanch Sambhunath Jena, former sarpanch of Bartana Padmalochan Behera, and samiti member of Paschimbad Harishchandra Mahallick said the road has developed huge cracks and potholes due to lack of repair. This is posing problems for commuters as people from all three blocks depend on it as a shortcut. Besides, ambulances fail to reach villages in case of emergency due to waterlogging and cracks on the road. Lack of proper lighting and drainage pose additional risk of accidents too, they said.
“We have reached out to district administration and elected representatives many times in the past. Three general elections have gone but the condition of the road is still the same,” they added. Meanwhile, junior engineer of PWD Niharkanti Behera said, “I will take up the matter with higher authorities and the problems will be addressed soon.”