Balasore, Dec. 30: Vehicular traffic on the main road between Balasore town and Chandipur was disrupted for several hours as residents put up a roadblock today demanding repair of a dilapidated stretch.

An agitator said the stretch connecting Station Square and Patrapada, known as “defence road”, had been in a dilapidated condition for years. Neither defence authorities nor the district administration renovated it.

“The 5-km stretch has become unsafe and accident-prone. Neither it is maintained nor repaired despite our demands,” said Abhay Das, convener of the Suraksha Manch, that led the agitation.

“The road also connects several important establishments, including FM College, other educational institutions and nursing homes,” he said.

Advocate Bijay Panigrahi said: “We have been drawing the authorities’ attention for long. But all of them fell on deaf ears. After staging protests in various forms and holding street concern meetings, we put up the roadblock as last resort.”

The blockade not only caused serious inconvenience for the regular commuters, but also affected the communication to Chandipur beach, Balaramgadi fishing base and the defence establishments, which included Integrated Test Range (ITR) and Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE).

The functioning of the defence establishments received a setback as no vehicle carrying employees and logistics could ply.

“There was hardly any activities in the establishment,” said an ITR official.

The directors of the ITR and the PXE also held talks with the agitators and assured them to begin the renovation from April next year.

The roadblock, which had begun from 5am, was withdrawn around 1pm.