Six inch path for students to reach school

BERHAMPUR: The district administration has finally turned its attention towards the students of Ambiliamba village, who had been battling against the communication odds to reach their school for years.

Several students of the village under Merikote Panchayat of Soroda block often risk their lives as they walk on the embankment of a canal to cross river Padmavati to reach the school at Boroda village. In the absence of road and a bridge across the river, they walk on the embankment which is barely one feet wide.

More than 50 students are forced to take up this dangerous path as there is no school in their village. Constructed in 1991, the canal, which was built to supply water to Harabhangi south, was being used as a road by other villagers as well.

Villagers claimed that they had been demanding the construction of a bridge over river Padmavati for the past 26 years.

Realising the seriousness of the issue, Bhanjanagar Sub-Collector Laxmikanta Sethi intervened in the matter. In a recent move, he had ordered the officials to block the unsafe passage and assured the villagers that a road connecting Ambiliamba with Merikote via Sunakhandi would be built soon. Not just that, Sethi had also assured the villagers of constructing a bridge over the river. Following the orders of the Sub-Collector, the officials of Harabhangi Irrigation Division blocked the passage on the canal’s embankment recently.

However, the restriction upset villagers and students, who would now have to take a longer route, covering an extra 7 km, to reach Boroda. The villagers, thus, urged the administration to build the road via Sunakhandi as soon as possible.

Soroda MLA Purnachandra Swain has accepted the demands of residents, assuring them of constructing a bridge under Biju Setu Yojana, sources added.