Villagers fell trees to block trucks

ROURKELA: Heavy vehicles could be seen stranded along Birsa-Jareikela-Manoharpur road on Sunday with villagers protesting ‘unauthorised’ plying of heavy transport vehicles on the route. They had felled trees to block the road.Reports said over 200 people led by Jareikela and Bhalulata Sarpanches Ratnakar Naik and S Oram gathered at Mahipani roundabout near Bhalulata in the bordering Bisra block in Sundargarh district. Owing to the stir, around 40 heavy vehicles were stranded on either side. The villagers alleged that heavy vehicles have rendered the 7-km stretch between Bhalulata and Jareikela useless.  Private buses too have stopped plying on this non-motorable road for the past couple of days. Suspension of bus service from Rourkela and Manoharpur in Jharkhand has hit the villagers.According to villagers, the Sundargarh district administration had issued prohibitory orders against movement of heavy vehicles about three months back. However, the order is being flouted with impunity with the situation having aggravated in the last two months, they alleged. They also  blamed the local police for the problem.They threatened to continue with the  blockade till the local administration comes to their rescue.