Kherengjuri (North Tripura district), July 27: As the state prepares for the three-tier panchayat elections, residents of six villages have blocked the national highway number 8 popularly know as Assam-Agartala road, on demand of immediate repair.
The protest took place in Kherengjuri area of Dharmanagar sub-division in North Tripura district on Saturday.
According to the agitators, the more than 10 Km stretch of the national highway from Churaibari Sanichara hospital area to Kherengjuri is in a deplorable condition since more than last one-and-a-half year.
Both small and large vehicle drivers, as well as local residents, suffer due to the massive potholes on the highway. For the past one and a half to two years, no repairs have been carried out on this national highway.
Daily traffic of hundreds of lorries has further deteriorated the condition of the road, leading to frequent accidents. Local people, including students going to school and market-goers, face extreme difficulties.
Reporredly, recently a pregnant woman lost her life on the way to Shanichara hospital due to the poor condition of the road.
The angry agitators saif that despite multiple protests and blockades demanding repairs, the district administration has only managed to fill the potholes with half-bricks, which quickly disintegrate under the weight of heavy lorries, reverting the road to its dilapidated state.
Finally, the frustration of the villagers boiled over, leading to the blockade on Saturday morning from 11 am.
Residents from Kherengjuri, Balichara, Chandpur, Lakshi Nagar, North Fulbari, South Fulbari, and Churaibari areas participated in the blockade.
They demanded that the potholes on the national highway be filled with stones to make it suitable for vehicle movement, failing which the blockade will continue indefinitely. As a result, a long line of goods and passenger vehicles has formed on both sides of the blockade site.
