Khudirampur Villagers Urge Authorities for Construction of Bailey Bridge or RCC Box Culvert Over Kalpong River to Ensure Safe Connectivity

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Aug 22: The residents of Khudirampur village under Diglipur Tehsil have demanded construction of RCC box culvert 4×4 mtr of 6 cell or a Bailey Bridge over Kalpong with approach road to provide safe connectivity to the people in the area who are forced to cross the river at the risk of their life.
According to information, there is a dire need of an RCC box culvert 4×4 mtr of 6 cells or a Bailey bridge over Kalpong River with approach road in Ward No. 04 of Khudirampur village. The local villagers and farmers have been facing problems crossing the river and transporting their produce as well as cattle. Although the residents have been demanding construction of a RCC box culvert 4×4 mtr of 6 cells or a Bailey Bridge over Kalpong River with approach road in their area for long, and the matter was raised in the Gram Sabha meetings several times and even their plight was listened to by the officers in the past many years, nothing has been reportedly done to remove the woes of the people so far, they lamented. “We have repeatedly approached authorities during successive regimes, but our requests fell on deaf ears. We are scared for the safety of our children who have to cross the river to reach school,” said the locals. They have to face the ordeal in medical emergent situations when they find the river filled with flood waters and no means to cross the river, they rued.
Andaman Sheekha Daily talked to the Pradhan, Gram Panchayat Diglipur Smti Boopathy K.V. Raj and wanted to know more on the matter. The Pradhan said that the residents of this area were allotted land during the year 1989 by the govt. and the area is bifurcated by the Kalpong River and is cut off from rest of Khudirampur village owing to non-existence of a bridge or a RCC culvert of an appropriate size over the river. In absence of a RCC box culvert of proper size or a Bailey bridge, villagers risk lives to cross river for daily needs, she said.
She wrote letters to the higher authorities on the matter on several occasions and each time the Pradhan was assured by them that the matter would be taken up for its reressal, she further said.
Meanwhile, the residents of this neglected area are urging the administration that the concerned authorities should address their plight and consider to construct a RCC box culvert or a Bailey Bridge over the Kalpong River with an approach road to provide safe connectivity to the people in the area.