BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey rides a bullock cart to reach the district magistrate’s office in Bhagalpur on Tuesday. Picture by Amit Kumar

Activists led by former minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Tuesday blocked Patal Babu Road and rode a bullock cart to the district magistrate’s office to draw the state government’s attention to the dilapidated roads.

After the two-and-a-half hour blockade was lifted around 1.30pm, Choubey and the activists reached the office of the district magistrate (DM) and started a dharna. “Since the roads are not suitable for driving vehicles, we preferred the bullock carts to reach the DM’s office from Patal Babu Road,” Choubey said.

Choubey said he and other workers would block Ghogha Goal Chakkar Road on NH-80 on November 22 to press for their demands.

“We have come to give memorandum to the DM but he had left before we reached,” said Khoka Choubey, a party worker.

The stretch of NH-80 from Ghorghat to Pirpainty passing through Bhagalpur has been a matter of concern for the residents owing to frequent accidents and dismal traffic movement.

“Today we just rang the pagla ghanti (alarm bell) to draw the attention of the authorities concerned. It was our last ultimatum and massive mass movements would be initiated if the conditions of the roads are not improved within the next month,” Choubey said.

Lambasting the Nitish-led government, he said: “During my tenure as a state minister, I used to monitor and conduct review meetings with officials to improve the condition of roads.” He added: “After the BJP and the JD(U) snapped ties, the government does not have any time for problems of residents even though two to three lives are lost every week owing to the bad condition of roads.”

He alleged that owing to the conditions of roads and incompetent police officials, the traffic system in the district has collapsed completely.

Bhagalpur district magistrate (DM) Prem Singh Meena said he had already had sought reports from the officials concerned about the dilapidated condition of the roads. The DM, however, refused comment on whether the roads would be repaired or not and if repair works would remain confined to office files of the department only.

The executive engineer of the Bhagalpur division of the public works department, Birendar Sahu, said estimates for repairs have been completed and work would be started only after completing the tender process. He, however, did not provide any specific time for completing formalities.

Lal Mohon Prajapati, the executive engineer of Bhagalpur division of NH-80, too, refused to comment on road repairs. According to him, many stretches on NH-80 had been damaged owing to flood. “We have already have sent a proposal for repair work to the ministry of road transport and highways. Repair work would be initiated only after a green light from the ministry,” he added.

However, Ajit Sharma, a leader of the district Congress, who organised the mahadharna, lambasted the local public representatives, including Choubey and MP Shahnawaz Hussain, for their failure to address the problems of the residents of Bhagalpur.