Dasmantpur: With the district administration unwilling to repair the Toyaput Road in this block in Koraput district, villagers here are planning to stage indefinite dharna at the Collector’s office. If that fails to infuse some sense into the administration, they have decided to boycott the 2019 general elections.
The 6-km Toyaput Road stretches from Kuntesh in Dasamathapur block to Laxmipur block.
The road has been in bad shape for months, and villagers are having a tough time commuting. Once repaired, it will make transportation to Laxmipur block, Kashipur block and Rayagada district easy.
On many occasions the villagers had raised this matter with the district administration, but there was no response owing to the lethargy of the officials.
In September, villagers from the 60 villages of Murkar, Champio and Tayaput blocked the state highway connecting their villages to Rayagada.
Officials and local leaders came rushing to the spot and gave them a written promise that repairs on the road would start within a week. An estimate of Rs 3 crore was also made at that time, and villagers were informed of it by the administration.
After that three months, the administration forgot the promise and did nothing to repair the road. With the passage of time, the condition of the road has become worse.
The villagers have threatened that if nothing is done to improve the road, they would stage a sit-in at the Collectorate, and around 3,000 voters would boycott elections.
RD department sources said funds have not been sanctioned for repairing the road.
PNN
