Students at the blockade on Tuesday. Picture by Ramen Mondal

Balurghat, July 8: Hundreds of students from Syedpur High School today blocked the Patiram-Hili state highway for four hours, demanding that the road leading to their institution be carpeted immediately.

The students who were joined by a section of residents of the area even planned to set a police vehicle on fire. But quick intervention by teachers of the school prevented them from doing so.

The protesters alleged that the 3km stretch of the road between Sewai in Kumarganj block and Syedpur in Balurghat had been lying unmetalled for years. The lack of co-ordination between the authorities of the two blocks was responsible for the state of affair, they said.

Subrata Chowdhury, a resident of Syedpur, said they had been demanding the carpeting of the stretch as it connects a few primary schools, a health centre and the high school in the area. But nothing has been done.

“The condition of the road turns horrible during the monsoon. Walking along the road to reach the school is a nightmare after a shower or two. The students face serious problem almost every day,” Chowdhury said.

Recently, the gram panchayats of Gopalbati in Balurghat and Botun in Kumarganj set up a development committee to press for carpeting the road. Its members joined the blockade along with the students after informing the South Dinajpur district administration.

As no representative from the administration was present and a handful of policemen arrived at the spot from the Patiram outpost three hours after the blockade began, the protesters were upset. A section of the students planned to torch the police vehicle but were stopped by the teachers.

The protesters withdrew the blockade around 2pm after the police officials assured them that they would take up their demand with appropriate authorities and find an early solution to the problem.

Anil Kumar Chowdhury, a businessman who heads the development committee, said they had been demanding a metalled road for over 30 years. But nothing has been done. “If the authorities fail to meet our demand, we shall resort to a greater movement,” he added.

The district magistrate, Swapan Kumar Chatterjee, said he would soon talk to the block development officers of both Balurghat and Kumarganj and take steps to alleviate the problem of the students and residents of the area.