People of three villages under Barachana block in the district are on a dharana near Gobandia- Badheidanda paralysing construction work on the Haridaspur-Paradip railway line project.

The villagers are demanding construction of a railway under bridge. The dharana led by Naba Nirman Krushak Sanagthan (NKS) entered its third day today.

As a result, construction work under the Haridaspur- Paradeep railway project remained obstructed at Gobandia- Badheidanda as the irate villagers raised slogans against the railways.

NKS state assistant coordinator Nimai Charan Ray who has been leading the agitation said around 3000 residents of Gobandia, Chhatisa and Palei villages would be badly affected by the under construction Haridaspur- Paradeep 82 km long railway project.

The villagers allege that the new railway line is being laid on their agriculture fields and preventing them from agricultural work which is their source of livelihood. Farm land on the other side of the railway track and their approach is also affected.

“The settlement of our villages is on one side whereas our agricultural fields are on other side of the under construction rail track of Paradeep -Daitary railway project. The new railway line is being laid through our farm land and the proposed railway track would be about 15 feet high. We normally commute a narrow passage with our bullock and plough through the agriculture fields for farming. With the only pathway from home to fields taken away by railways and the railway track is too high, this is preventing us from our agriculture work which is our only source of livelihood,” said Trilochan Samal, an agitator.

The agitating villagers said they would also face problem for taking their cattle to graze. “We are demanding construction of a railway under bridge so that villagers have no problem in commuting from their homes to fields for cultivation and for taking their cattle,” said Managobinda Das, an agitator.

Earlier, the villagers had approached the district collector and sought his intervention to mitigate their problems. Jajpur district collector had also recommended the Railway authorities to make a Railway under bridge near Gobandia- Badheidanda for the greater interest of the villagers, but it yielded no result.

The villagers also met the Railwat Vikash Nigam Limited( RVNL)officials at Bhubaneswar to address their problems, but in vain. The agitators threatened to intensify their agitation if their demand is not fulfilled soon.