Unavailability of bridge forces school students to tread ‘troubled waters’

School students and villagers of Siskudi village under Koraput’s Dasamantapur block have been treading the rapids of Andhari river flowing near the village for their daily needs.

From hospital to school and even for availing government benefits, locals need to cross the river to go to the other side.

“Pregnant women in our village suffer the most as they find it difficult to cross the river to go to hospital. We are forced to carry such women on a make-shift stretcher to hospital,” said a local of Siskudhi, Arjun Nayak.

“We had urged the Collector and the MLA several times but all in vain,” he said.

While no comments could be obtained from the district administration in this regard, demand to build a bridge on the river is gaining momentum.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Odisha government had approved 15 key proposals including the construction of 866 new bridges under the Biju Setu Yojana (BSY) in Odisha.

The BSY scheme was launched by the state government in the year 2011-12 with the objective to bridge all the missing links on roads of the Rural Development Department.