Erasama: Residents in four villages of Sompur panchayat under Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur district have stopped riding their two-wheelers during the rainy season for the last 10 years due to deplorable road conditions.
These four villages are Mallikana, Badapal, Bandhabpur and Dihansar villages – all of which fall under the panchayat.
Such is the condition of the road connecting the villages that it is impossible to ride a two-wheeler during the rains, let alone a four-wheeler as it is impossible for the vehicles to travel even an inch after getting stuck in the mud. Villagers are afraid to take their bikes out even during the rest of the year as they worry that it might suddenly rain, leaving the road impossible for commuting.
A major worry for the villagers is when any person requires medical assistance during the rainy season as the villagers will then have to carry the sick person on a sling for more than two km before boarding a vehicle to the nearest hospital.
All their pleas to higher authorities to construct an all-weather road in the area have fallen on deaf ears.
Sources said a pucca road runs through Diha Sahi and connects to a culvert in Sompur panchayat from where a mud road connects Mallikana village and another 1 km stretch of similar road with Bandhabpur village.
A total of 255 families comprising 60 from Mallikana village, 100 from Badapala village, 60 from Bandhabpur village and 35 from Dihanspur village depend on this two-km stretch of road to connect with their panchayat and the block headquarters.
This two-km stretch of road was washed away during the 1999 super cyclone as river Hansua flowing on its west submerged the road during the calamity.
Authorities without fully repairing the road laid murram on it in 2002 after the villagers filed several complaints for its repair.
However, the road condition has deteriorated further during the last 14 years as authorities never made attempts for its repair.
Over 20 students from these four villages walk or ride their bicycles till the Sompur culvert where they get down and wash their feet in the river before attending classes at Sompur High School.
Villagers Dhruba Charan Gadua, Ramesh Chandra Barik, Babaji Jena, and ward members Suresh Sahu and Sunakar Jena have warned of an agitation if the authorities do not take urgent steps for repairing the road. PNN