The dilapidated 12-km Gandakhia-Santasahi RD Road, a lifeline for seven to eight panchayats, has turned nightmarish. As accidents occurred at a particular location on the road most often, the locals took it for granted that the spot is haunted by some evil spirit.
Every day, more than 6,000 people generally ply on the road. However, regular accidents caused fear among the people to use the road at a particular location between Badasaipin and Nano showroom.
According to Santosh Behera of Kanheipur who met an accident a fortnight back on the same location, while he was returning home on a bike during evening hour, he lost control as he felt the speed of the bike went up suddenly under the spell of some invisible force. He fell on the road and sustained injuries.
Several injured too, who met accidents in recent past on the particular location, said an evil spirit was there which was causing mishaps. Even if the bike rider is careful, he meets an accident.
So, the school and college going girls feared to go on the road during day hours anticipating they might face accident on the location.
Consequently, the locals and sarpanches of four panchayats, including Kansar, Ostapur, Purusottampur and Ayeba, with the help of Ward no-1 and 2, organised a meeting a week back to steps to ward off the evil spirit. A core committee was formed and the committee went near the Pundits for taking suggestion.
As per the direction of a local Pundit, it was decided to organise a Hanuman Yajna and Chandi Yajna to drive away the evil spirit from the spot. On Tuesday, the rituals began on the accident-prone spot, stated Ashis Nanda, an organiser of the yajna.
The yajna has been going on with the participation of locals and the locals provided donations. About 2,500 took prasad on the road on the first day. “We are going to install a statue of lord Hanuman on the location and the devotees have started donating funds for a concrete statue of more than 25 feet,” stated Sanatan Barik, an organizer.
“How can we forget the old sayings of our forefathersIJ Whenever any evil spirits haunts a place, religious functions are usually held to ward off them,” said the yajna organisers.