Bongaigaon villagers repair dilapidated road, appeal to CM for help

Bongaigaon, Jan 1: "Mama, please come and see our village's earthen road which is lying in a dilapidated state," locals of Raghunandanpur's Kamarpara in Bongaigaon district thus appealed to the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, while they were repairing the road by themselves for the second day on Sunday.

The villagers had made repeated pleas to the authorities concerned as well as their gaon panchayat to rebuild the road. However, their requests failed to evoke any response from the officials and panchayat office-bearers.

At last, losing all hope of getting any response from the authorities concerned, the men, women, and youths of the village assembled together on December 22 and took up the task of repairing the 2-km-long road for the day and dig drains on both its sides. After a break, the villagers, who are mostly farmers, did the repair work on December 29 as well.

"During rainy days, we cannot move on this earthen road as it gets muddy and excess rainwater flows over it. No vehicle can pass the road to respond to any urgent need of the locals," a woman of the village complained.

Having over 200 Other Backward Classes (OBC) families, the village, which is around 16 km from the Bongaigaon district headquarters, falls under Boitamari gaon panchayat. It is also a part of the Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency and Abhayapuri Assembly segment.

"Despite repeated public requests, why did all the authorities concerned fail to repair the rural road under government schemes?," asked a villager while expressing loss of trust in the authorities.

After finishing the repair work on December 29, the women of the village drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the issue through the media.