Tribal leader's village neglected

Times of India, July 1,, 2013
Bhawanipatna: Predominantly tribal Urladanivillage is bereft of basic amenities despite repeated reminders to authorities. The village, which is 18km from Kalahandi'sMadanpur-Rampur, bordering Kandhamal, is known for tribal leaderRindoMajhi, who laid down his life fighting the British.

Not only the village, Urladani gram panchyat (GP), having a population of around 6,000, is a picture of neglect. There are 40 villages in the GP under Madanpur-Rampur block.

The Rahul river is flowing by 15 villages, including Urladani, and the residents' only link to the outside world is a wooden log. They cross the log for their day-to-day activities and to reach the community health centre, risking their lives. As river overflows in the rainy season and inundates the log, people wait for water to recede to cross over, said resident Dhabaleswar Naik.

A permanent bridge is being constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore, which was to be completed by June. But due to sluggish pace of construction, the completion of the bridge has plunged into uncertainty.

People of this area have been demanding a mobile tower and a police outpost since long. "BDO and tehsildar have been moved a number of times for setting up of a police outpost, but in vain," said Urladani sarpanch Mithila Patra.

"As the area is inaccessible we are facing many troubles to execute the projects. We are expecting the bridge to be completed by 2014 and after that we will expedite all our projects. We have already intimated the government to set up a mobile tower in the region," said BDO (Madanpur-Rampur) Sibananda Swain.