Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Sept 03: Over 5000 people living in different Wards and areas under Gram Panchayat Diglipur are experiencing commuting woes due to dilapidated roads.
As per report, the residents said that the condition of the roads in their areas is in such a bad shape that auto rickshaws and other vehicle operators refuse to transport passengers to the area at night.
The residents said that 04 different roads, with a total length of 09 km, covering areas from Tri-Junction (Ward No. 06) to Aaga Nallah, Community Hall to Dhiren Mistry House, Khudiram Bose Statue to Sitanagar Boundary and Manoj Baroi House to Sitanagar Boundary via Kartick Sarkar house under the Panchayat are no longer motorable; several parts of the roads have turned hazardous owing to the potholes and damages, posing threat to the lives of the commuters.
When Andaman Sheekha Daily contacted Mrs. Boopathy K.V. Raj, Pradhan, GP, Diglipur to know more details on the matter, she said that she is seized of the problems being faced by the residents owing to the rundown condition of the roads. “People often complain about problems in taking pregnant women to hospitals through these roads in our area,” said the Pradhan. “Even the school bus drivers reportedly decline to use the roads”, Mrs. Boopathy K.V. Raj further alleged.
Taking an initiative, the Pradhan sent Mr. K.V. Raj, a Ward Member of her Panchayat, and urged him to personally meet Mr. Keshav Chandra IAS, Chief Secretary, A & N Administration and apprise him of the severely rundown condition of the roads, she said. Accordingly, Mr. K.V. Raj met the Chief Secretary on 6th March 2023 and apprised him of the unattended condition of the roads, she claimed. The CS was kind enough to give a patient hearing to Mr. K.V. Raj when he elaborately presented the bad state of the roads before him and told him that he would take initiative to address the issue of the dilapidated roads on priority, the Pradhan declared. Mr. K.V. Raj also met the higher officials of the APWD, Port Blair with representation and enquired about the status of the work process in respect of these roads which were taken up under SFA. The APWD officials told Mr. K.V. Raj that earlier technical bids couldn’t be opened due to the absence of the Chief Engineer, APWD and now the CE is in his capacity and technical bids will accordingly reportedly be opened and related paper works shall be furthered, the Pradhan disclosed. Mr. K.V. Raj was also assured by the officials of the APWD that the process in terms of floating of tender etc is in advanced stage and these roads shall be taken up by the concerned agencies for macadamizing once the weather turns fair, preferably, with the onset of dry season this year itself, she further disclosed.
