Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Feb. 10: Plagued by several hardships owing to non-existence of the basic infrastructures in their village, the denizens of a remote village called Nischintapur under Gram Panchayat Kalighat, Tehsil Diglipur, Dist. North & Middle Andaman have come up with a plethora of issues which have been severely affecting their day-to-day life for the last couple of decades.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha, they said that their ancestors were settled under a colonization scheme in the village in the year 1960 by the Govt. of India and initially there were only 19 families which now have expanded to 43 families.
They bemoaned that their village is totally cut off from the mainstream of development and the villagers are still leading a hardscrabble life due to non-availability of roads, bridge, health service centres, community halls, transport facilities, telephone/mobile network, street lights, veterinary centres etc.
Except electricity and drinking water facilities, no other services are provided in this village in a proper way, they alleged. Talking to the Andaman Sheekha, they said that there is no single puckka road in this village since 1960; the villagers have to walk about 5 to 7 kms on the bumpy & muddy track through the natural reserve forests and then wading through mangrove to reach to market, hospital, school etc situate at Kalighat, their only nearby town for availing other basic facilities. There are a couple of brooks with no culvert to cross over; a footbridge (built with a piece of long log placing across it and bamboo support) is the adopted means of their transportation system, they rued. But the movement becomes highly dangerous and risky for the children, elderly, CWSN (Divyang), sick and most importantly the pregnant women of their village are the most vulnerable, they further added.
In emergency like venomous snake-bite, crocodile attack etc these victims are carried in stretchers (made with cloth & bamboo). However, instances are there that, in the event of non-availability of four persons for carrying the victim in stretcher at night, many lost their lives in such cases.
Owing to the non-existence of a bridge over the creek of Kalighat, people lost their lives due to capsizing of dinghy, drowning and crocodile attack, they bemoaned. “The local administration built a 100 mtr long and 1.5 mtr width wooden footbridge over the Kalighat Creek and which proves to be a death-trap in every rainy season. Some time a part of this footbridge is washed away by floodwaters with heavy current and sometimes it gets damaged and becomes highly risky. We have to repeatedly urge the administration for its early repair so as to facilitate our movement through this sole wooden footbridge” the dismayed inhabitants further elucidated.
There is a sub-centre but no regular health worker stays there at night, they make irregular visits to this sub-centre. They maintain the records while the facts are the other way round, they alleged. Under the given situation, villagers have to bear the brunt of perilous journey in reaching PHC, Kalighat for availing even minor treatment, they further revealed.
Highlighting their points they further disclosed that the village lacks a community hall, a playground for children and a veterinary centre. The village is plagued with the problem of no connectivity of mobile network and thus remains totally cut off from the rest of the world. Infrastructures are the basic systems that undergird the structure of the economy of an area; but primarily, owing to non-existence of road in the village, denizens have to practice age-old head carrying method and transport their goods; and this is the prime reason the villagers have ceased to produce crops for marketing and this in turn has further wreaked havoc on their economy.
Another eye-opening fact is that, many families are not willing to allow their children to marry deserving youths of the village because there is no proper communication system like, road & transport, mobile network, etc. in place.
The foremost and most rudimentary requirement of the village is the immediate construction of a 10-12 km pucca road from Subhash Roy House of Madhyamgram village to Late Kedari Nath Halder house of Nishchintapur (5 family) under Diglipur Tehsil to bridge the gap between this backward and much neglected village Nishchintapur and Kalighat, they residents of this remote area urged.
They further said that, the construction of this proposed pucca road through the desired area will ensure the direct benefits of 04 villages namely- Nishchintapur, Kalighat, Madyamgram and Narayan Tikrey and about 1500 to 2000 villagers will be the beneficiaries.
They only want that their long cherished demands of a pucca road, a primary school, 24 hrs medical service, check-dams, ring wells and other basic requirements are fulfilled and are rescued from the quagmire of backwardness.
Earlier, they approached the administration of these islands several times and apprised the concerned authorities about the plight of their living condition and the officialdoms assured them of redressal each time but gradually their assurance turned only to lip-service and these denizens we are still in the same state of sheer adversity, they bemoaned.
They have shot a letter to the Prime Minister of India and the Home Minister of India for early redressal of their grievance, they said.
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