Basantipur, September 30: Chaos erupted this morning in the Nilambur Bazaar area under Basantipur Gram Panchayat, when angry residents staged a sudden road blockade to protest the deteriorating condition of National Highway-4.
The protest began without prior notice, as villagers dragged chairs into the middle of the road, bringing traffic to a complete standstill for nearly three hours. Their primary demand was that the Deputy Commissioner herself should arrive on the spot and assure them that repair work on NH-4 would commence without further delay.
During the blockade, all vehicles, including passenger buses, private cars, and goods carriers, were halted on both sides of the highway, causing a long traffic snarl. Tensions were visible among commuters, some of whom expressed frustration at being stranded for hours. Villagers, however, remained firm, chanting slogans and insisting that promises made in the past had not been fulfilled.
Officials including police personnel, the General Manager of NH, and the Tehsildar arrived at the protest site. After heated discussions, they assured the villagers that repair work would begin within an hour. It was only after this assurance that the road was finally cleared, allowing stranded vehicles to resume their journeys.
Speaking to this reporter, one villager said the condition of NH-4 has been a nightmare for months, causing frequent accidents and constant fear among commuters. He recalled two recent mishaps, which left several injured, adding that the government’s negligence had pushed locals to take matters into their own hands.
The villagers warned that if the promised repair work did not start within the assured time frame, they would not hesitate to stage another, even stronger, road blockade. For now, traffic has been restored, but the people’s anger over NH-4’s condition remains unresolved.
