Post News Network
Rayagada, Jan 19: Hundreds of vehicles have been stranded on the Gumma ghat road connecting Rayagada and Koraput for the last five days after a trailer truck ferrying a 60-tonne cargo conked out on a narrow stretch of road after a mishap.
Truckers and passengers whose vehicles have been stuck are becoming increasingly exasperated at the failure of the district administration to remove the truck from the spot and open up the road. On their part, the officials say they have no experience in dealing with such mishaps and say they hope to remove the truck by Tuesday night.
The truck was carrying a large transformer, according to reports.
Efforts to tow the truck out of the spot Monday night went awry after the rear axle of the trailer snapped due to the sheer weight of the transformer. Now, officials are planning to shift the transformer with the help of a heavy-duty crane and then tow the truck, according to sources.
The trailer truck (NL-01-D-8392) loaded with the huge transformer was on its way to Utkal Alumina in Doraguda when the mishap occurred. The 60-tonne load the trailer was carrying was found to be beyond its maximum load capacity, sources said.
A high-tech crane would be required in order to remove the transformer from the spot and it would cost around Rs 3 lakh, but it is learnt that the vehicle owner is unwilling to shell out the money.
Meanwhile, traffic has come to a complete standstill on the route with even motorcyclists being unable to pass through since Friday. Movement of essential goods like medicines, vegetables, milk and groceries between Rayagada and Koraput has also been crippled, with patients living in villages such as Kashipur and Tikiri said to be the worst sufferers as they are unable to reach Rayagada.
An alternative route is available to motorists but it involves covering an additional distance of 90 km by going to Laxmipur via Sikarpai and Kashipur, that too on narrow potholed roads surrounded by thick forests. The road is unfit for trucks and buses.
Plying of passenger buses from Koraput and Jeypore to other far-off places via Rayagada has been put on hold due to the obstruction. Left with no option, passengers stuck at both ends of the ghat road are forced to pay exorbitant rates to drivers of jeeps and small passenger vehicles waiting on the other side to reach their destinations.
To make matters worse, the ghat area has no network coverage in a radius of 10 km.
More than 20 drivers whose vehicles have been stranded met the district collector Tuesday afternoon seeking help. The collector, it was learnt, promised to clear the road with the help of cranes of Utkal Alumina.
