Telkoi: Thousands of people in two remote and hilly panchayats under Telkoi block in Keonjhar district are at their wits’ end due to absence of proper road connectivity. In the case of healthcare, 102 and 108 ambulance services are not accessible to the villages for emergency patients in the absence of motorable roads to their areas.
In such cases, people have no option but to carry patients on cots up to any motorable road where an ambulance can come to carry them to the hospital.
According to reports, Shibnaryanpur Goda and Talapada are the panchayats which lack communicable roads.
Locals say taking patients in emergency cases is a difficult affair. “In order to take a patient to hospital, at least three persons are required: Two are required to carry the sling of the cot and another will just support the cot,” they added.
They alleged that people’s representatives had drawn attention of the district administration several times in the past towards connectivity problems, but nothing has been done as yet.
Most of these people in the panchayats are Bhuyan, Juanga and other tribals living in inaccessible areas.
Talapada panchayat is 22 km from the Telkoi block office.
Shibnarayanpur Goda panchayat lies in between Talapada and Telkoi.
In 2012-13, the rural development department had undertaken a road project under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Locals alleged that the road condition deteriorated soon due to botched-up work by the contractor. The road was full of craters and potholes while culverts at many places got damaged, making commuting a nightmare for locals.
Khiramani Nayak, sarpanch of Shibnaryanpur Goda panchayat, said pregnant women, school and college students cannot commute on the road.
Sarat Juanga, a resident of Gudunar in Talapada panchayat, said that due to irregularities, the road is in a bad shape, leaving it unusable for people.
Patients have to be carried on a cot on the road, as 102 and 108 ambulances cannot reach their panchayats via the road, he added. SDO Santosh Kumar Mishra said the contractor concerned has been directed to repair the road. PNN
