Balasore: Hidimachandi, a village situated 7 km away from here, is far from being developed owing to apathy of the administration.
Upset over having been denied basic facilities, the inhabitants of the village have decided to boycott the upcoming panchayat elections.
They have hung a banner on the outskirts of the village in Hidigaon panchayat, stating that they would boycott the polls.
The locals alleged the village has no road, no school and no Anganwadi centre and no drinking water facility. Over 50 families residing in the village use a farmland to venture out of the village.
In the rainy season, they are surrounded by two-ft layer of water. “In rainy season, our problem becomes more complicated when there is a need to shift a patient to a hospital. Patients are carried on cots to hospitals. The nearest school is 3km away from here. Kids have to walk to Aladia to attend school. In rainy season, they almost stop going to school,” some villagers said.
In the absence of safe drinking water, the villagers use water of a pond for drinking and other purposes.
Angry over the lack of development in the village, the residents have not allowed candidates to paste posters or hang banners in the village.
Villagers said that 70 years have passed since Independence, but the village has remained as backward as it was earlier with its basic problems far from being sorted out.
They lamented that political leaders and their supporters rush to the village seeking votes whenever election comes. They just give loads of promises, but forget to implement them after the elections, the villagers rued.
They had raised the issues at various forums several times in the past, but to no avail, villagers said. PNN
