Balasore: Over 700 families have not got the benefits of any government schemes for over 25 years at Udaynagar and Shaktinagar, located between Balasore municipality and Remuna block.
Their problems were taken seriously by the district administration. MP Rabindra Jena, MLA Jiban Pradip Das, Collector Ramesh Chandra Rout, ASP Ramesh Kumar Panigrahi and PD Trilochan Pradhan visited the villages August 14 and reviewed their condition.
The families alleged that they have been reminding politicians and the administration about their basic problems time and again, but no step was taken to sort them out.
The people in the two villages have been suffering over decades due to the absence of roads, drinking water, electricity and drainage. They pointed out that their condition gives the impression that they are neither voters of the municipality or the block.
Udayshakti Bikash Manch, a local outfit, sought the status of the two villages under RTI. According to the RTI replies, the Remuna BDO and the executive officer of Balasore municipality said the villages do not come under their jurisdictions. To say aptly, the villages are now in ‘no man’s land’, the outfit said.
The MP and the MLA have taken up the issue with the administration. People of the two villages are now united under the Udayshakti Bikash Manch.
The MP said the process to include the two villages in the municipality is getting delayed. “We held discussions with the district administration Saturday about the problems of the two villages. Immediate steps will be taken to build roads and supply drinking water in the two villages,” Jena added.
PNN
