Villagers block NH-49 in Odisha's Deogarh district over lack of mobile network

SAMBALPUR: Vehicular movement on NH-49 came to a standstill for over nine hours on Wednesday as villagers of five gram panchayats under Tilebani block in Deogarh district staged road blockade protesting the absence of mobile network in the area.

Demanding cellular network, residents of Dimirikuda, Gandam, Jaragogua, Parposhi and Jharmunda GPs under the aegis of Laimura Anchal Bikash Yuva Manch started the NH blockade at 6 am. 

The agitators said lack of mobile connectivity has been a major problem for villagers since the last several years. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, children were not able to attend online classes as there was no network in the area. Many students had to walk up to 10-12 km to get mobile signal. 

Besides, absence of cellular network is preventing them from availing timely healthcare. During medical emergencies, villagers have to cover a distance of more than 15 km from the village to get mobile signal and contact the 108 ambulance service. Though villagers have approached the district administration and local representatives several times for a mobile tower, their demand is yet to be fulfilled.

The road blockade continued till 3 pm and was called off after Deogarh Sub-Collector Brajabandhu Bhoi reached the spot and held discussion with the agitators. Bhoi assured the villagers that steps would be taken to provide cellular connectivity in the area at the earliest.    

During the panchayat elections this year, residents of these five GPs had announced to boycott the polls to protest lack of mobile connectivity. While none of the villagers filed nomination papers for any post, announcements were made through public address system-mounted vehicles urging people to boycott the polls. 

The villagers later participated in the elections after the district administration held talks with a mobile network operator which agreed to install towers in the area. Though a mobile tower was installed at Jaragogua village, it is yet to be made functional. Similarly, work on installation of towers at Dimirikuda and Parposhi is yet to start.