North-South Road of Great Nicobar in Pathetic State

Campbell Bay, 15 Dec 2020

The North-South Road of Great Nicobar Island which leads to important revenue villages like Laxmi Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Shastri Nagar is in pathetic condition and needs urgent repairs. Some works are currently undergoing on the North-South Road on a stretch starting from Magar Nallah but the majority of road has been left untouched and is creating a lot of problems for the commuters.

There are thousands of big and small potholes on the road, which is a major source of discomfort during the journey on North-South Road of Great Nicobar Island. The vehicles of the residents of Great Nicobar are getting damaged and constantly needs maintenance when it is driven continuously on the said road.

The STS busses that ply between Campbell Bay and Shastri Nagar is also in pathetic condition because the road is not repaired on time. The road mostly passes through remote forest regions of Great Nicobar, during some parts of the journey there is unavailability of mobile network and in case of an accident, the victims will also not be able to call for help.

It is the responsibility of the authorities to keep the road in plush condition but it is often seen that the rural roads are ignored, the focus is always on to maintain and develop better facilities in the urban areas. 

The said North-South Road of Great Nicobar Island was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation after the old road was damaged by Tsunami and was later handed over to the Andaman Public Works Department for further repair and maintenance. 

There have been numerous verbal pleas to the authorities by the residents of Great Nicobar, for the repair of the said stretch of road but there has been no concrete action to solve the issue completely. Some temporary repair works are executed like filling of the potholes with dust and other materials which are taken away with the water as soon as it rains.

The permanent repair works are only executed on a small stretch of the road, which serve no purpose because almost the whole stretch of road from Zero Point in Campbell Bay to Shastri Nagar is in a pathetic state.

“We are the residents of the Southernmost Territory of India and we have been settled here by the Govt. of India under a rehabilitation scheme, it is very sad to see the pathetic condition of roads here in our Island. We have to protest even, to get the basic facilities. Last year we had to protest because there were no teachers to teach our children in the schools. This year we will have to protest because of the pathetic condition of the roads. No matter what the problem is, the answer is always to protest because people with power do not listen to us until we protest.” Said an angry resident of Gandhi Nagar who travels on the road every day for his business. 

The authorities should take a note of the condition of the road and intervene and get the North-South Road of Campbell Bay repaired for the benefit of the general public.

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