Odisha villagers cut hills to construct a 6-km road as administration
By Surya Narayan Panda
Koraput, Nov. 10: As the local district administration allegedly remained indifferent to their woes, the residents of Ghantraguda, a remote village in Odisha’s Koraput district, took the stupendous task of cutting hills to construct a road for them.
Reports said, the Koraput district administration had constructed a temporary road to the village 15 years ago. With the passage of time, the condition of the road got completely deteriorated. So much so that it lost its visibility. It looked the same as it was 15 years before. The residents of Ghantraguda and their neighbours found it difficult to go somewhere out of their villages. They faced a lot of difficulties at the time of shifting serious patients and pregnant women. To reach Podagarh and Koraput, they had to take a 20-kilometre detour. The villagers 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 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, Lochan Bisoi, another village,r 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 seen engaged in the levelling the road, others are busy 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.
