Irregular bus service irks Nagada villagers in Odisha’s Jajpur

Jajpur: Tribals in Odisha’s malnutrition-hit Nagada village of Jajpur district today fumed alleging irregular bus service in their area just 25 days after the State government has launched the service with much fanfare following a series of reports about the lack of basic amenities in the area.

According to reports, tribal people, mostly belong to the Juanga tribe, said bus services have been stopped for the last four days giving them a hard time to communicate in the locality.

A City Ride bus, which used to reach Nagada at 12 noon daily via Jajpur Road, Kalinga Nagar, Sukinda, Kaliapani from Chandikhol, was parked in a garage following a technical glitch, reports added.

On the other hand, bus operators claimed incomplete road construction and heavy rains in the area had made it impossible to continue the service.

Following deaths of 19 children due to malnutrition last year, senior officials from the Centre and State Government had visited Nagada and directed the district administration to take necessary steps for development of the village.

This had promoted the State government to swung into action and the local MLA Priti Ranjan Ghadei flagged off the private bus service to Nagada, which consists three hamlets, houses the primitive Juanga tribals.

Since then, the state government has been launching several welfare schemes and programmes for the locals in Nagada to improve their condition of living.