Odisha: Fed up with administration’s ‘laxity’, villagers construct wooden bridge on their own

Villagers of Kuturakend, Titilagarh block of Balangir district are constructing a wooden bridge on their own. The locals find it difficult to commute during rainfall. The villagers are building the bridge with bamboo and wood planks. They claimed that it is strong enough for even school-going children to use it when water level of ‘nullah’ rises. “Our village is situated in a dense forest in between 3 nullahs and the road condition is very bad. We have to cross the nullahs to go outside the village. We had requested the Sub collector and others for the construction of a bridge several times, but no one took any step. Then we decided to construct a wooden bridge over one of the nullahs,” said a local. “I appreciate their efforts. Besides labour, villagers have also contributed monetarily. The wooden bridge is temporary, a permanent bridge over the nullah will be constructed soon,” said Asit Tripathy, Principal Advisor to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.