No water, power, road in this tribal village

BARIPADA: Development is still a far cry in several villages of Mayurbhanj district. Even as the State Government has introduced a number of welfare schemes, these have failed to yield the desired results and benefit the people in the remote pockets of the district, which are deprived of basic amenities.The tribal-dominated village of Polashmunduli under Moroda constituency is an example of under-development. The village lacks access to essential amenities like electricity, potable water, road connectivity and healthcare facilities.

The village is home to at least 20 tribal families. The villagers eke out their living as daily wage workers. Some of the families earn their livelihood by selling sal leaves and stitching plates. However, the villagers alleged that the imposition of GST on minor forest products had hit them hard. “No official has ever visited the village and asked us about our condition,” the villagers said.

In absence of roads in the village, locals used their private lands for communication. Locals said even ambulances fail to reach the village during emergency due to the lack of roads. “The narrow road leading to Khuruntia Chowk that passes through agricultural lands gets washed away by rainwater during the monsoon,” the villagers added. The road is usable only for eight months. Patients are often carried to Rashgobindpur Hospital by cot during the monsoon as ambulances can’t reach the village interiors.
“I have been deprived of my voter card, old age pension and house under rural housing scheme. The village has no access to electricity, school or anganwadi centre. People are not receiving the benefits of old-age pension, widow pension and other schemes,” Bijay Soren, an 80-year-old local said.

The villagers had apparently brought the matter to the notice of the Block Development Officer (BDO) on several occasions. However, it didn’t yield the desired result.There is no school in the village. Children trek one-and-half km every day through the narrow roads to the reach an anganwadi centre in neighbouring Jhinkria village.A government tube-well in the village had been lying defunct  for the past nine years.

Thus, the villagers are forced to bring unsafe water from other sources. They cover a few kilometres every day to fetch water from pits and streams. The villagers have not watched television so far as there is no electricity in the village.Contacted, Moroda Block Development Officer Satyajit Rout said he would inform the tehsildar for constructing a road in the village and for other facilities.