With the administration remaining indifferent to their woes, villagers of Ghantraguda, a remote village under Dasamantapur block in Koraput district took the stupendous task of cutting hills to construct a road for them.
The administration had constructed a temporary road to the village 15 years ago. With the passage of time, there was no sign of road at all, making it difficult for the villagers of Ghantraguda village and nine other nearby villages to go somewhere out of the village. Imagine the difficulties they have been undergoing at the time of shifting serious patients and pregnant women.
To reach Podagarh and Koraput, they had to take a 20-kilometre detour. They had taken up the issue with the administration on several occasions but to no avail.
With no option left, the villagers joined hands and decided to construct a road for them. The next moment, they including women were out with spades and baskets.
They have constructed the 6-kilometre-long road, connecting Ghantraguda village and Puki Square.
“We are facing problems for not having a pucca road. We have been requesting the administration to get us a road but it seems they have fallen on deaf ears,” rued Padmini Kuruseti, a villager.
Echoing the same view, another villager Lochan Bisoi lamented, “A road was constructed 15 years ago. As of now, there is no sign of it. We are facing a lot of trouble going somewhere.”
The villagers are currently devoting their time towards making the road communicable. While some are levelling the road, others are cutting roadside bushes. They are now happy that their labour is bearing fruit and that they don’t need to travel extra kilometres to reach Koraput town any longer.
“Every day we go out to collect firewood and buy essentials from markets. For this, as we don’t have a pucca road, we have to trek hilly terrains which are always treacherous,” said Mangali Khosala, a villager.
The villagers said a pucca road would do away with all the problems they are experiencing.
(Reported by Suryanarayan Panda from Koraput, OTV)