A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: Just a few kilometres away from the district headquarter is the No. 2 Bhogman Silikhaguri village in Lakhimpur district. This village under Azad Gaon Panchayat continues to be deprived of any kind of development.
The village is located in a critical geographic location of the Subansiri River valley under North Lakhimpur revenue circle. Subansiri River, the largest tributary of the mighty Brahmaputra, flows in the north of the village while Bhogman village is in the west. On the other hand, a natural stream called Khor-khori Jan is on the north of the village while Somdiri falls into the Subansiri flowing along the south side of the village. Situated in such a crucial geographic a geographic location, the village could not draw the attention of the public representatives with their developmental agenda.
Almost 35 families of the village are still using the dilapidated agriculture dyke of the Somdiri as their way of communication. During the rainy season, the villagers have to use the dyke full of mud as the road to communication with other places. The matter of concern is that the erosion of the Somdiri has posed a tremendous threat to the dyke at several places. Yet no erosion-prevention measures were taken by the Block Development Office or any other department concerned. The PWD division of the district has also not implemented any scheme in the village.
There is no school in the village due to which the children have to go to Gohaintekela village located under the Uttar Telahi GP on the other side of the Somdiri River. During the rainy season, the children cross the tributary of the Subansiri to pursue their education. Though a bridge over the tributary is a long-pending demand to connect the two villages, it has not come into effect till date.
In addition to all these problems, all the families of the village have been deprived of sanitation programmes implemented under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and executed by the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED). No family of the village has been able to reap the benefit of the individual household latrines (IHL) constructed under the SBM programme. As a result of it, open defecation is still going on unabatedly in the village. The Lakhimpur division of PHED and the Gaon Panchayat concerned did not take any initiative to make the village free of open defecation. Moreover, the villagers consume water high in iron content collected from shallow tube wells. During the rainy season, these sources of drinking water get submerged by the overflowing water of the Subansiri and Somdiri and then people have to consume the river water.
On Sunday, the Lakhimpur district SBM Brand Ambassador (NAMASTE States) Ranjit Kakati took part in a cordial interaction programme regarding the cleanliness and hygiene of the village. In the programme held under the auspices of youth activist Dikpal Lahon, retired headmaster Dambarudhar Changmai, Pobitri Borgohain and Mandira Duwarah Konwar explained the problems of village. The SBM Brand Ambassador promised the villagers of initiating further steps to communicate with the department concerned with regard to making the village free of open defecation. Further, he urged the villagers to keep the village plastic-free.
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