Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, May 28: The Rural Road starting from old Girls’ Hostel to Harapriya Pahar House, Ward No. 01 in Navin Nagar under Diglipur Tehsil is in ramshackle state.
As per report, the rural road from old Girls’ Hostel to Harapriya Pahar House, Ward No. 01 in Navin Nagar, under Gram Panchayat Diglipur was constructed in the year 2014 and the road started worsening soon after its construction, alleged the residents of the area.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, the localites said that the concerned agency/contractor commenced the construction work of the road in the month of November 2014. Initially the work progressed but after 1st and 2nd coating of metal there was literally no work done. The length of the road is about 350 mtrs with 2 culverts and drain. The work then suddenly ceased and the reason for cessation of the work was best known to the agency but the residents became the ultimate sufferers, the residents said. On the other hand, due to the non-removal of excess metals and stone aggregates dumped in the roadside and drain, the water flowing down through this drain was clogged and overflew thereby causing havoc on the metal road, they rued. By then the rainy season set in and the condition of the road further aggravated putting the residents in more trouble. “In fact, it could hardly be called a road and which was not less than a death trap for us especially the elders and the children in our area”, bemoaned an elderly of the area. Thereafter, the school opened after summer vacation and the school going children had to face untold sufferings due to the rundown condition of the incomplete road, said a woman of Navin Nagar.
The residents told Andaman Sheekha that they met the then Assistant Engineer, Zilla Parishad, Diglipur and apprised him of their plight owing to the sheer negligence of the concerned agency on this incomplete road. But the concerned Assistant Engineer sounded favouring the agency/contractor instead of listening to their grievance and providing redressal, the residents alleged. Their grievance on not being redressed, they moved a representation to the then Lieutenant Governor, A & N Islands, apprising him of the non-completion of the road and its resultant adversities; and their prayer was heard and the construction work of the road was completed but sadly enough many things were overlooked, they claimed.
And due to alleged gross negligence and overlooking, the road in question started breaking apart within 6 months of its construction and condition of the road further worsened, the denizens rued. The main drawback of the road is that about a 100 mtrs length of drain required along one side of the road but it was not constructed and as a result, the water rolling over the road was continuously damaging the road. In some places, the road was covered with moss due to slow overflow of water on this road and which was extremely dangerous as it had become slippery. And some places there were pools in the road and it was almost impossible to use the road, lamented the residents.
Instances were there that school going children slipped on this slippery portion of road and got hurt many a time, they said. On the other hand, and most importantly, no auto-rickshaw walahs want to enter this road while vehicles carrying school children are reluctant to ply their vehicles on this highly dilapidated road, the residents bemoaned.
In medical emergencies, the patients of this area have to face the real challenge as all the auto-rickshaws squarely refuse to ply their vehicles on this highly dilapidated road, they further said. In the rainy season the condition of the road can’t be expressed in words, they said.
“No maintenance or repair work on the road has been done since its construction in the 2014, and now a sizable part of the road literally doesn’t exist” claimed a senior citizen of the area pointing to the stretch of the road in question which is really speaks volume about the gross negligence on the part of the Department which executed the work.
The residents of the area have recently written to the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration with a prayer for his immediate intervention in the matter pertaining to the dilapidated condition of the village road and necessary redressal to it, the residents of the area further said.
