Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar/Keonjhar:  Even after 71 years of Independence, Uparaiminri and Badakhamana villages in Keonjhar district are still crying for basic facilities like road and electricity.

The rural households are also deprived of drinking water and education facilities while the people here continue to languish in darkness.

In the name of road, the villagers of Uparaimiri under Bansapal block have only a mountain terrain road which makes tough for them to commute during rains to reach their destinations.
Similarly, the locals of Badakhamana village under Telkoi block have to cross two brimming rivers to go outside the village for any purpose.

These problems often send patients to graveyard before they could even reach hospitals for treatment and children of these villages mostly get undeclared holidays during rainy season.

Besides, lack of basic amenities, people of these two villages are forced to follow the ancient barter system-  where they bring rice in exchange of daal and other oil-based crops from others.

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The woes of these people don't end here. They have only one well as the source of water to quench their thirst and also to complete their daily chores.

Talking about electricity in these village is a distant dream as for them as Sun and Moon are the only sources of light for them. Though electric poles and transformers have been installed, electricity is yet to be supplied to the people.

"We are dependent on the only well here for all purposes. We are facing a lot of problems," said Sisra Dehuri, a resident of Uparaimiri village.

A resident of Badakhamana village, Jogendra Kisha said, " We have to cross two rives to move out of the village. Besides, due to lack of proper road connectivity, our children are not able to go to school."

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After carrying out a survey of the region, a total of Rs 1.65 crore (approx) was sanctioned for the carrying out infrastructural development of the region. Similarly, Rs 3.12 crore (approx) was also sanctioned for the construction of a bridge and road. However,  the work is yet to be taken up by the district administration.

Project director of District Rural Development Agency (PD DRD), Nrusingha Charan Swain said, "Odisha government has given us Rs 3.72 crore. We are in discussion with the concerned department and will start the road construction work at the earliest."

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