Edagunda villagers decide to boycott ZP, TP elections

The villagers of Edagunda have decided to boycott the zilla and the taluk panchayat elections as problems of basic facilities continue to haunt the Maoist-infested village in Megunda hobli of Koppa taluk.

Only three kms, out the the six-km-long Meguru-Edagunda Road in Guddethota gram panchayat limits, has been asphalted and the condition of the remaining part of the road is pitiable, they said.

As many as 34 families belonging to Scheduled Tribes reside at Edagunda and they are all dependent on agriculture. The road is pothole-ridden and not fit for the movement of people. Except the vehicles belonging to the residents in the area, the rented vehicles from outside do not ply on the road. As a result, the people are compelled to carry the necessary items from market to their home on their head, the villagers claimed.

A turbo electricity generating project, which was implemented by spending several lakhs, has been of no use as the machines have become defunct without proper maintenance. The project was meant to generate electricity from flowing water and started when Chinnappa Gowda was the deputy commissioner, they said.

The condition of solar lamps in the village is also the same. Under Rajiv Gandhi Electrification Project of the Union government, electric poles where installed on Meguru-Kitlaguli route. But, as the Forest Department officials objected, the project was stopped and the electric wires have fallen on the road, they said.

The villagers said children have to be dependent on Ashrama schools.  A resident said elected representatives have turned a blind eye towards their problems.

District In-charge Minister K Abhayachandra Jain had convened an interaction meeting with district-level officers at Meguru two years ago. But, there has been no impact of the decisions taken in the meeting so far. The files submitted in the meeting have not been disposed of till today, he charged.

The mobile health units of the Health Department were conducting health check-up of residents every week when Maoists were active in the region. But this facility has been stopped as they have stopped their activities, he added.

The officials are not implementing development schemes as funds are released under the Maoist package.
DH News Service