Ranchi: Venturing out in rural areas of naturally gifted Jharkhand has become a tedious job. Roads built through forest and hilly terrains have turned in to deplorable state for want of repairs. Frequent rains during the monsoon have exacerbated the miseries of rural populace, who have to go out and return home through the roads full of craters and potholes.
It’s not that the State Government does not have the fund to maintain them. It’s because of the lackadaisical approach of the officials that funds allocated under Annual Budget are not being utilised.
The absence of smooth road connectivity of the villages with the district headquarters has a perceptible impact on earning of the rural masses. Flow of tourists too has declined over the past few months due to the pathetic conditions of the roads. Government’s delivery system has also been impacted due to absence of proper road network.
Officials of the Rural Works Department (RWD) said that a sum of ₹80 crore has been allocated in the annual budget for repair of rural roads. However, the same could not be utilise owing to timely intervention of the officials.
“Rural roads in most of the districts are battered and potholes have emerged on them. The situation has worsened in the rainy season. Cabs hardly go to the villages. And if they agree to go, the charges they ask are exorbitant,” said Amalesh Kumar, a school teacher.
A senior officer of the RWD said that repair work could not be undertaken in time, ahead of the rains, as the concerned divisions did not sent to the list of dilapidated roads. Engineers, however, hoped that repair and maintenance work would be initiated after the rains, as they have got the project reports ready for getting the government’s nod.
The cost repair set to escalate
Engineers said that heavy rains in rural areas have damaged roads badly. They said that the damages could have been checked if the maintenance were done ahead of the monsoon. “Condition of roads has become deplorable owing to frequent rains. At some stretches, roads have lost their existence, while potholes and craters have appeared on other roads. The cost of repair will certainly go up,” said an engineer.
Road to Jonha fall in dire state
The Jonha-Medha road of Angada block, which leads to the famous Johna falls, has become difficult even for the pedestrians. This road is also connected with a dozen villages of Paika and Gudidih panchayat. This road takes tourists directly to the waterfall of Jonha fall, but due to dilapidated conditions of the road, people do not want to take this route. This 10 km long road was constructed in the year 2008-09 under PMGSY. The Government did not spend a single rupee on its maintenance since its construction.
The entire stretch of Chamghatti-Bissa road, built for the purpose of connecting Getalsud directly with Ranchi-Muri road, is also in extremely bad shape. This road was built in 2016. The road has become full of potholes now.
