John Wilber & Saurabh Singh
Port Blair, Jun 22: A massive protest was organized by the villagers of Teylerabad and Bimblitan at the Garacharma Junction this morning against the miserable road conditions in the area. The protesters blocked the road and expressed their anger for not repairing the said road even after repeated requests by the villagers.
Villagers alleged that the road from Garacharma Junction to Bimblitan via Teylerabad is in very bad shape for the last several years but the authorities have turned a blind eye.
Villagers further alleged that the roads were constructed about nine years ago and since then the roads have developed several medium and large potholes due to poor quality of work.
They alleged that the road condition is so bad that no Auto Rickshaw driver is willing to take Auto Rikshaw inside the village for whichvillagers especially old people and patients are facing a lot ofdifficulties.
As per details at around 10.30 am, the Executive Engineer, APWD Construction Division along with Assistant Engineer reached the spot and tried to convince the villagers to take back the protest. They reportedly gave a written assurance to the villagers to repair the road immediately.
The officials reportedly assured that the tender for improvement of rural roads from Garacharma to NTS Junction will be floated within two days and will be opened after 15 days. The officials also assure that within 30 days the construction works for the new road will commence. Considering the anger brewing among the villagers, the officials also assured that the potholes will be repaired on priority and after the written assurances the protest was called off.
