Bhandaripokhari: Youths from Kurigaon village of Bhadrak district are faced with a grave crisis: they are finding it increasingly difficult to get married as no family wants to see their daughter settle in a village that has such bad roads leading to it.
Youths who are well past their marriageable age in the village are left cursing their bad roads as their prospects of finding a good match dry up. Elders of the village fear that there might come a day when they will be forced to leave the village in order to ensure that their clan continues.
This situation is despite the fact that the government spends crores of rupees every year to improve rural connectivity.
Not finding brides is not the only problem the villagers of Kurigaon face; no ambulance or fire tender can reach the village in case of an emergency, especially if it is during the rainy season when the main road leading to the village from Patapol Road is inundated with slush.
“Work on the road was botched up as a result of which people living in Wards 4-8 have to suffer while commuting to the block headquarters. People of Bindhanisahi, Sahusahi, Sethisahi, Nataksahi and Swainsahi are also dependent on this road. In the rainy season, even walking along the road is a difficult proposition, let alone plying of vehicles,” locals said.
Under these circumstances, people have to make a longish detour to reach the block headquarters, they added.
“During the Hindu month of Ashadh, if people of the village want to get their sons or daughters married, people of other villages are reluctant to agree on a match due to the situation of the road,” said many villagers.
According to villagers, the road gets inundated with floodwaters while water enters houses, making life miserable for them. In case of any fire mishap, fire tenders fail to reach the village while pregnant women are carried to a distance on a cot before being shifted by ambulance, they said.
Construction of the road was undertaken at a cost of `1.65 lakh under MGNREGS in 2009, but it was halted midway. They alleged that sand or murram has not been laid on the road as yet due to irregularities on the part of the contractor.
Subhadra Swain, a college student, said, “The condition of the road is so bad that we have to walk on the muddy road by lifting our bicycles for a good distance. Or we have to take an alternative route. No political leaders take note of our commuting problems.”
Loknath Samal, a local, said people have been demanding to include the road under PMGSY for the last three years, but to no avail.
“Looking at the condition of the road, we feel ashamed. If we want to go to the hospital, we have to take a long detour,” rued Pradyini Bindhani, a local resident.
Rajlaxmi Swain, another woman of the village, said no attention is paid to their village road. Water stagnates on the road, making it muddy and prone to breeding of mosquitoes, she added.
“Our main problem is the bad condition of the road due to mud. Thousands depend on the road. We face a lot of difficulties while going to the hospital, colleges and schools,” said Narendra Kumar Nayak.
Upset at the problem, another resident, Deviprasanna Mohapatra, warned that if no step is taken for repair of the road, people will boycott elections. “The patch of the road from Niskasana nullah to Mahadev temple needs restoration,” he added. PNN
