SAMBALPUR: Peeved over the inaction of district administration and local representatives to construct a bridge connecting the mainland, residents of nine villages under Salebhata Panchayat under Naktideul block in the district have not only built a temporary bridge on their own but also threatened to boycott poll in the upcoming general elections.
The demand for a bridge gained momentum around six years ago in 2017, when the villagers of Salebhata met the district administration officials besides the local representatives to apprise about their concern. However, all of it went unheard. Eventually, irked over the authorities’ inaction, the villagers decided to resolve the issue on their own.
Few weeks ago, the villagers planned to construct a temporary bridge over the river and chose a spot where the water level is less. Subsequently, they started dumping sandbags in the water covering the entire span and then placed wood logs over the leveled sand bags. As the bridge became usable last week, the villagers informed about their endeavour to the local media and also announced their decision to boycott poll with the slogan “No Bridge, No Vote”. They had also put a banner with the slogan written on it at both ends of the bridge.”
A woman of Kandal village, Binodini Tirkey said, it had become risky to send children to school. “Moreover, we were also facing problem on daily basis to meet our household needs. We built a temporary bridge but it won’t sustain for long. We demand the authorities to take necessary steps towards construction of a permanent bridge at the earliest,” she said.
Accessibility to healthcare facilities is a major problem faced by the villagers. In case of medical emergency, people from interior pockets of the GP travel up to 40 km to reach healthcare centres at Batgaon. “Despite frequent intimation and reminders, neither the administration nor local leaders took any step. We had also apprised the 5T chairman VK Pandian during his visit to Rairakhol last year, but in vain. We will boycott poll unless our demand is met,” another villager Babuli Bisi stated.
Block development officer, Danei Charan Tudu informed that a site has already been identified for the construction of the bridge over Tikra river and a tender passed.
Need of the hour
Salebhata GP has 9 villagesKandal, Basaloi, Nevrapal, Babutaila,Tulsitaila, Gohiranali, Rohinigadia, Sankarpali, Dhauragoth
Tribal-dominated, the GP has population of 8000, including around 5,000 voters
People mostly belong to SC/ST communities
Villagers depend on Batgaon panchayat for most of their needs
They lack road connectivity as Tikra river separates Salebhata from Batgaon panchayat
From education, healthcare and market, the villagers travel to Batgaon
In absence of bridge, they take a longer route covering around
25 km
Rainy season adds to the woes when water level increases in
the river
A bridge will shorten the distance between the two panchayats to 3-4 km