MLA forced to have a feel of damaged road

JAGATSINGHPUR: Balikuda -Erasama MLA Prasant Muduli on Sunday faced the ire of his constituents at Guamunda village and made to walk on the muddy road during his visit to the region. The villagers stopped the convoy of the legislator and made him walk on the road demanding immediate repair of the five-km stretch from Andhari to Guamanda.

The concrete road was constructed following the 1999 Super Cyclone and has been the main connectivity route for the coastal villages of Guamunda, Badabelari, Jamukona Harijansahi, Potal and several others, serving a population of nearly 2000. However, continuous neglect of maintenance and repair has pushed the road into absolute deterioration.

The villagers stated that the road was their sole connectivity to the outer world and most vital to livelihood and sustenance. They used it to transport farm produce to the markets and weekly haats. It connected the panchayat and block headquarters while students used it for going to school and the sick to go the hospital. The abysmally bad condition of the road has inflicted severe hardship on the people of the region.

Sarpanch of Andhari panchayat Jayanti Swain said, “The road began to deteriorate only after one year of its construction due to poor standard of work. Though villagers have since been pleading with the Government and administration including elected representatives to repair and upgrade it, nothing has been done. Nearly 2000 villagers are suffering immense problems due to its badly damaged condition.”
This was the first visit by the MLA to this part of his constituency and the constituents were in no mood to let him go easily. They gheraoed him at Guamunda village and snatched the key from his vehicle.

Heated exchanges with supporters accompanying him ensued as they shouted slogans like “MLA go back!”. He was also forced to walk on the muddy path in a bid to make him experience the difficulties that the villagers were facing. They also firmly told him that he or any other ruling party leader would not be allowed to step into these areas during election till their demands were met.

The MLA blamed the  Congress for the incident. “Steps have already been taken for revamp of the road. The Rural Development Department has awarded tender of `4 crore for construction of new road and work will start very soon. Disrupting my visit was the handiwork of Congress workers,” he alleged.