Student’s death sparks NH blockade, tourists stranded in Odisha
PURI: Death of a college student in a road mishap involving a fire brigade vehicle escalated into a massive road blockade on Bhubaneswar-Puri national highway, leaving hundreds of vehicles caught in a traffic congestion that dragged for hours on Monday afternoon.
The traffic jam that continued for over two hours, with tourist vehicles stranded on either side on NH-316, exposed the poor administrative response in state’s top tourism destination.
The deceased was identified as 21-year-old Swayam Subham Senapati, a Plus III science student at SCS college in Puri. The mishap took place when the student’s bike was hit by a fire brigade vehicle at Tulasi Chaura.
According to the reports, Swayam was returning to his village Kundisha under Chandanpur police limits after attending classes in the afternoon. A fire brigade vehicle moving on wrong side of the road hit his bike and he died on the spot.
Locals immediately stopped the vehicle and informed the deceased’s family. Hearing the news, hundreds of villagers rushed to the accident site and staged a blockade demanding strict action against the fire brigade operators and compensation to the family. In Puri town, students of SCS college blocked the VIP road demanding action.
Additional district magistrate Sarat Mahapatra reached at the blockade site and announced Rs 4 lakh compensation from the chief minister’s relief fund.
The deceased was the only son and his father is bed-ridden due to a brain stroke. As there is no one to support the family, villagers demanded Rs 20 lakh as compensation.
Senior police officers, sub-collector, and ADM tried to persuade the agitating villagers to lift the road blockade, which continued till filing of the report. However, the blockade at VIP road was lifted.