Silchar, May 10: Villagers under Fatepur gaon panchayat in Karimganj district of Assam have threatened to launch an agitation if projects to solve various problems such as dilapidated roads, erratic power supply, drinking water crisis, among others, are not initiated soon.

Fatepur is around 83km from here.

Interacting with reporters today, some villagers, accompanied by members of a few local organisations, said though their village was declared a "model" one among 22 gaon panchayats nearly eight months back, Fatepur re-mained one of the most backward villages in the district.

Coming down heavily on Karimganj MP Radheshyam Biswas for not taking necessary steps to solve the problems, villagers Amirul Islam, Faysul Ahmed, Raju Ahmed and a few others said despite the MP's assurance that all the problems would be sol-ved within a year, nothing had been done till date.

They demanded that Biswas apologise to the people of Karimganj for making "false" promises.

The villagers complained that there is not even a single well-constructed road and students have to use rickety bamboo bridges to go to school, risking their lives.

The situation becomes unbearable during the monsoon when villages are inundated and boats are the only mode of transport.

The villagers also alleged that though a transformer in the Khagail area became defunct nearly three months back affecting power supply, no step had been taken to repair it.

Venting their resentment over poor healthcare system in the gaon panchayat, they said the Khagail health centre is in a shambles for quite long, but no step had been taken till date. They alleged that the centre was mainly being run by an auxiliary nurse midwife but she does not turn up on most days.

Biswas said he had called a meeting with the district administration this month. He said rain hampers construction of roads. "Working season in Barak Valley lasts only four to five months and it gets a bit tough to complete road construction. However, work will be done soon."

On the drinking water crisis and sorry state of healthcare, Biswas said necessary action would be taken after the meeting with the district administration.

Asked if he being a non-BJP politician gets state government's cooperation, he said development process is a bit slow as projects have not yet started in many gaon panchayats.