Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, June 09: The deplorable condition of Kishorinagar to Paschimsagar road under Diglipur Sub-Division has caused distress among the local residents of this area. The said road has fallen into severe disrepair, causing significant frustration and concern among residents.
As per report, despite numerous appeals and complaints, the Andaman Public Works Department (APWD) has failed to address the issue, leaving the community stranded and at risk, the locals of the region alleged. The road in question isn’t motorworthy in any manner, they rued. “In some areas, particularly at Taltikrey, the road has become impassable and hence accident hotspots” fumed the locals. Locals informed that the repeated requests to the administration have been ignored, worsening the dangerous situation. The lack of responsiveness from both the administration and the APWD highlights a troubling indifference to public safety and welfare, they lamented. The residents further urged upon the administration for an immediate action to prevent potential accidents and restore safe travel conditions. On the other hand, STS buses plying on the road have been facing severe challenges, and instances are there that passengers had to abandon the bus in the middle of the road owing to the rundown condition of the road on several occasions, the residents rued. “When this type of situation happens, the elderly and the patients especially our pregnant women are left stranded in the remote area and this is intolerable and really unfortunate” a resident of the area said with grief.
Amid all this, the Pradhan, Gram Paschimsagar wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner with an intimation that he, along with the irked residents of this remote areas would mount a Dharna/Road Block against the Andaman and Nicobar at Kishorinagar Junction on June 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM, if there was no significant improvement in the road condition on or before June 6, 2024. They would cease all communications with the concerned Department and the Andaman and Nicobar Administration until such improvements were made, they further threatened. However, Mr. Dilkhush Meena, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, N & M Andaman visited the area and assured the residents that he would take all possible steps to ensure that the road’s repair work is undertaken on priority thereby providing them a good transport means and then only the Pradhan and the residents withdrew from holding the proposed dharna, they said.
However, when Andaman Sheekha Daily contacted the Executive Engineer, CD, ADWD, Diglipur and posed questions on the matter, the EE said that he is seized of the situation of the road, and elaborating further on the matter, the APWD senior Official said that the road was constructed by the PRI under PMGSY-II in the year 2017. Subsequently when the said road got damaged, the PRI had put its efforts to repair the road during the 2019, but finally it was handed over to the APWD in 2022 for its maintenance and repair. The concerned department floated tender for three times and two times the tenders were reportedly cancelled owing to administrative reasons, the EE said. Finally, the tender got mandated/approved at the third time but the execution of the road work is still poised to start owing to the concurrence of the required fund from the Finance Department, the EE further said. When asked about when the road work is expected to be started, the EE said that, the dept. has put its all efforts and is engaged in making the road motorable by dumping aggregates and earth where the road has become unnavigable. Daily rated belders and APWD truck have been pressed for attending day to day repair work with available resources in extremely dangerous stretches of the road to ensure the safe driving of vehicles, the EE said. And since the tender has been finalised, the agency, awarded with the tender, will undertake to start the repair work of the road as soon as the weather turns fair in the coming dry season, the APWD higher Official further asserted.