Locals block NH demanding underground passway

Anandpur: Vehicular traffic between Keonjhar and Panikoili came to a grinding halt today in the morning due to a road blockade on National Highway-215 staged by the locals at Salapada here demanding an underground passway.

Hundreds of heavy vehicles, buses and cars stood on both side of the road as the locals sat on a dharna. “Salapada is a major junction where many government offices, school and colleges are located. Mostly, this is the students’ movement area. As the number of vehicle is rising by the day, an underground passway is urgently required in order to avoid accident. If the passway is not constructed, the students would be the victims of mishap”, a local said.

The local residents have been demanding the under passway for long time. Neither, the highway authorities nor the State government has paid heed to their legitimate demand, they alleged. “This is a long standing demand of our area. We have met NH authorities, chief minister and the Governor many times in past. As no one is aware about our concern, we resort to road blockade today. We will not withdraw until we receive promise over our demand”, a senior citizen said.