Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, July 03: While Andaman and Nicobar Islands are witnessing rapid development, the residents of Ward No. 06 and 05 of Madhupur village under Diglipur Tehsil have been facing severe hardships for the last 6-7 decades, due to lack of a bridge over a village nallah.

As per villagers school-going children are facing severe trouble owing to non-availability of a bridge over the nallah bifurcating Ward No. 6 and 5 of this village. Since the school is on the other side i.e. in Ward No. 5 and partly 6 as well, their wards have to walk about three and half kilometers (3.5kms) to reach the school while it is merely a couple of minutes’ walking distance if a bridge is constructed.

Villagers of the area told Andaman Sheekha Correspondent that they are compelled to get their children admitted to another govt. schools in Subhashgram only due to non-availability of a bridge over the nallah, and during the rainy season this nallah swells up to its brim. “The nallah is infested with crocodiles and two people have already lost their lives in the nallah,” the villagers claimed.

And not only school children, other residents of the village are equally affected because the Sub-Centre and the Panchayat Bhavan are situated on the other side of this nallah.

As a result, in the event of any medical emergency, residents of this Ward No. 06 have to go to CHC, Diglipur as there is no bridge across the nallah to cross over and reach the Sub-Centre situated in Ward No. 05, the women of the area lamented. SmtiBinodini Roy, Ward Member from Ward No. 06 said how unfortunate it is that their children have to go to other villages for education while there exists a school in their own area.

With an imploring gesture, the Ward Member said that their grievance be heard by the Administration and duly redressed with the construction of a footbridge at least for the sake of school-going children and medical emergencies.

Showing dissatisfaction, a resentful elderly of this area said that it is their long cherished demand of a bridge across this nallah, but the leaders and the administration have paid only lip service to this issue up to this day; many leaders and officials from local administration visited and saw the peril and problems attached to this nallah with their own eyes, and initially they took initiative and which ultimately died down with passage of time and no plan has been formulated and implemented yet.

On the other hand, the required portion of land was surrendered by Sukharanjan Mistry, a Regd. Settler of the area for the construction of the proposed bridge over the nallah about 4-5 years ago. About five years ago, a proposal in respect of the bridge in question, “Construction of 1 No. a footbridge near Manoranjan Mistry house at Madhupur” was taken in DPC meeting as disclosed by Mr. Sribash Das, ZillaParishad Member, Madhupur Constituency.

Amid dissatisfaction and resentment, Mr. Das seemed to be positive who said that he would take up the matter and plead with the Administration for its redressal and was also hopeful that the Administration will undeniably address this matter and very soon the dwellers of this area will be facilitated with a footbridge.

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, June 30: Dr.Satyendra Singh Dursawat, (IAS), Deputy Commissioner, N & M Andaman, Mayabunder along with Mr. BaibhavRikhari, Assistant Commissioner, (HQ) and In-Charge of Diglipur Division had an official visit to Diglipur today. The Deputy Commissioner held a meeting with PRI members and Officials of various govt. departments in APWD Guest House Diglipur.
PRI Members raised a plethora of issues and urged the Deputy Commissioner for their early redressal. The Pradhan, GP Shibpur raised theextreme pathetic condition of the road starting from Aerial Bay Jetty to Lamiya Bay under Gram Panchayat Shibpur, Diglipur and as a result, the school-going children, pregnant women and the elderly people are suffering for the last 15 years.
The Deputy Commissioner assured the Pradhan of its early redressal and ordered the NHIDCL officials present in the meeting to take up the work on priority. Pipeline damage caused by the NHIDCL while carrying out construction work was raised by the Pradhan, GP, Keralapuram and as a result, residents don’t get water.
The DC gave instant order to NHIDCL as well APWD Officials to immediately repair the damage of pipelines carrying/supplying potable waters for the public. Various Anganwadi buildings are in bad shape in many places under Diglipur Tehsil and which need to be renovated/reconstructed on priority as observed and presented by the Pradhan GP Madhupur, and to which the Dr.Dursawat assured the Pradhan of looking into the matter for their early solution.
The ZPM, Madhupur constituency apprised the District Magistrate of the govt. accommodations/quarters lying in unused and ramshackle condition and is a sheer wastage of public property and money as observed and presented by the ZPM. The Deputy Commissioner took note of the matter for its appropriate solutions.
The ZPM also urged the DC to float Tenders for all the 12 Stone Quarries under Diglipur Tehsil in the interest of the public benefit and at the same time he also requested Dr.Satyendra Singh Dursawat to consider for opening up the Nabagram Quarry which is under deemed forest. The Deputy Commissioner took note of all the issues, a source said.
After the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner also visited and inspected the Vivekananda Stadium, Diglipur. Observing the bad state of the stadium, the District Magistrate himself took initiatives to restore its glory and also for the benefit of aspirants of players and sportsmen and youths.
Dr.Satyendra Singh Dursawat also took rounds in Diglipur Bazaar area to look for a suitable place for a Bus Stand on public demand, a source said.

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, June 20: It was hardly a couple of days ago when the people of Diglipur lamented that the road especially the stretch from Sitanagar to Kalara Junction had turned hazardous owing to its dilapidated condition and the accidents have increased manifold. They also talked about their nightmarish experience on this patch of road.

However, as per report, the recent intervention of Dr. Satyendra Singh Dursawat, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, N & M Andaman, Mayabunder in the construction work of the NH especially the stretch from Sitanagar to Kalara Junction, the condition of this stretch of road has been considerably improved and made motorable. Barring from 3-4 spots where the undulating and rough surface are still in place need to be mended to render free vehicular movement. The Deputy Commissioner had given NHIDCL officials/agencies a 15 day time limit to complete this stretch of road, which can be visible.

Mr. RadheyShyamMeena, Assistant Commissioner, Diglipur summoned Mr. Jatin Arora, Assistant Engineer, NHIDCL, Mayabunder and visited this stretch of road along with him in the evening today and took stock of the situation.

According to report, the construction work of this stretch is going on war footing and the agency is confident of carrying out the cementing work of the road for about 300 meters by tomorrow and which undeniably alleviate the troubles being faced by the vehicle & truck owners and especially the people coming from Ramnagar and Paschimsagar routes.

However a staff of the agency alleged that some trucks carrying cement and sand from Port Blair with loads beyond their capacity are damaging the fresh road; and hence these overloaded trucks shouldn’t be allowed to ply on this stretch, the staff pleaded.

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, May 17: Mr. Dipankar Mistry, Pramukh Diglipur with a delegation of PRI members and Ex-Pramukh Diglipur & Ex-Pradhan of Nabagram Panchayat met Mr. Radhey Shayam Meena (DANICS) Assistant Commissioner, Diglipur today. During the meeting, the Pramukh apprised the Assistant Commissioner of a plethora of issues. At the outset the problem of the NH was raised. From Kalara Junction to Sitanagar the condition of the road is beyond anybody’s expectation, they said. The ACDP said that he is seized of the bad state of the NH especially of this stretch of the road. He then assured the Pramukh and the other PRI members present there that, the Deputy Commissioner, N & M Andaman is scheduled to visit Diglipur shortly and the Assistant Commissioner will brief and take up the NH-matter with him on priority to redress the problem. Smti Jayanti Jyoti, Zilla Parishad Member, Kalighat Constituency, Shri Shyamol Mondal, Ex-Pramukh Diglipur, Shri Niranjan Baroi, Ex- Pradhan Nabagram raised the issue of erratic service of the BSNL in Nabagram area. The Assistant Commissioner, asked the SDO, BSNL, Diglipur about the problem, the SDO who is on leave took note of the problem and instructed his staff to look into the matter and bring the BSNL’s service to normalcy in the area. Smti Jayanti Jyoti and these two Ex-PRI heads raised the issue of irregular bus service on the routes of their area. They said that the condition of the stretch from Sitanagar to Kalara Junction is so bad, that the vehicular movement is at stake and their region is on the verge of bifurcation in terms of transportation system. Under the given situation they suggested that, two nos. of STS buses are kept in their area which will ply upto Kalara Junction and there will be other buses from Sitanagar side and will build a link for the passengers between Kalara Junction and Sitanagar and transport the passengers to and fro and vice versa. The ZPM Paschimsagar constituency also raised the same transportation problem. The STS official who present in the Chamber of the ACDP, said that it seemed less feasible as there are a number of constraints attached to it, however he will consider to implement it on a trial basis, if all aspects permit.
Among other issues which emerged in the discussion were the land dispute, family disputes, on trivial issues etc. The Pramukh, Diglipur, mentioning “Prasasan Aapke Dwar” said that if the officials of the local administration visit villages and resolve these conflicts, villagers will be much benefitted. The Assistant Commissioner, to this effect, advised the PRI members to organize meetings in the villages especially in the evening times in which the ACDP, Tehsildar or the BDO may be invited to be present in order to dispose of the petty disputes that continue to pour in the Assistant Commissioner’s Office; and thus these disputes can be disposed at village levels and to which the PRI members agreed, source said.