A road first planned in 1989 still unfinished; Odisha villagers take charge

Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 (UNI) After decades of official apathy and repeated failures to complete a road project first proposed in 1989, residents of a remote tribal village in Odisha's Ganjam district have taken a 'do-it-yourself' route, clearing nearly eight kilometres of an overgrown forest stretch to restore connectivity to their panchayat headquarters. Armed with machetes and other tools, villagers of Upper Buratal cleared thorny bushes and wild creepers that had rendered the neglected road increasingly inaccessible, particularly during the rainy season. The road connects Dobatia on the Tumba-Paralakhemundi route to Buratal panchayat headquarters. Despite successive attempts to execute the project…