Residents of Baneikala under the Joda Muncipality of Keonjhar district on Thursday staged a dharna by burning the tyres on NH-215 in protest against the low quality work of a road and the inordinate delay in completing the job. The residents have been facing a lot of difficulties due to the dust generated from the under-construction road. The contract agency is not spraying water on the road and is not taking any steps to complete the work, which is already delayed than the contract period.
The affected people have informed the local administration in this regard, but no action has been taken yet, alleged by the demonstrators. The locals under the leadership of Kati Mohanty, Girija Samanta, Rajendra Kumar Sahoo and Ml Behera blocked the road, for which hundreds of vehicles were standing on both sides of the road and even a 108 Ambulance was not allowed to pass. When asked, Joda police station IIC SK Mahaptra said no such information had been given by the public.