Rayagada Collector faces heat from villagers over sand lifting grievance redressal

The Rayagada Collector faced an embarrassing situation on Tuesday when irate villagers did not allow her vehicle, forcing her to walk from the grievance cell to the revenue bungalow. 

As per a source, the residents of Kuturu village attended the grievance redressal held at the Sub Collector’s office, demanding a stay on the sand lifting from Kuturu sand bed near Gunupur.  

After hearing their grievances, Collector Swadha Dev Singh said nothing could be done as everything has already been finalised.  

Hearing this, the villagers got exasperated and staged a dharna in front of the Sub Collector’s office. The irate villagers even didn’t allow the Collector’s vehicle to go. 

With no option left, the Collector and Superintendent of Police had to walk from the meeting place to the revenue bungalow. However, the situation was still tense. 

The villagers called off their agitation only after the Collector held a discussion with them. She assured them that the issue will be resolved soon. 

“The hearing was specific on the sand lifting. We resorted to staging a dharna because the Collector left the cell without hearing our grievances,” said Y Kuntha Rao, a villager.

When asked, Collector Singh said, “We had the grievance meeting where problems were addressed individually.  Since some differently-abled persons come to the hearing, we generally club all the grievances so that they don’t have to wait. Besides sand lifting, there were many other problems to be addressed."