Jajpur: Residents of three villages in Barachana block of the district have been on a dharna near Gobandia-Badheidanda, demanding construction of a railway underpass.

The dharna, led by the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan, entered fourth day on Saturday. Construction work of the Haridaspur-Paradip railway project remained obstructed at Gobandia-Badheidanda village as the irate villagers staged protest and raised slogan against the railway authorities.

The sangathan's state assistant co-ordinator Nimai Charan Ray, who has been leading the agitation, said around 3,000 residents of Gobandia, Chhatisa and Palei villages would be badly hit by the under-construction Haridaspur-Paradip 82-km-long railway project.

The villagers say the railway tracks are being laid through their agriculture fields, and this is preventing them from farming activities, which happen to be their only source of livelihood. As the villagers' farmlands are located on the other side of the railway tracks and the lone pathway from their home to the fields has been taken away by the railway, they face problem in commuting to the agricultural fields for cultivation.

"The settlement of our villages is on one side whereas our agricultural fields are on the other side of the under-construction rail tracks of the Paradip-Daitary railway project. The railway tracks are being laid through our farmland, and the proposed tracks would be about 15 feet high. We normally commute through a narrow passage with our bullock carts to our agriculture fields. But with the only pathway from home to fields taken away by the railway, it has now become a problem for us to reach the farmland," said Trilochan Samal, an agitator.

The villagers said they would also face the same problem in taking their cattle for grazing to the fields.

"We, therefore, are demanding construction of a railway underpass, so that the villagers have no problems in commuting from their homes to the fields for cultivation, and at the same time, taking their cattle for grazing without any hindrance," said Managobinda Das, another agitator.

Earlier, the villagers had approached the district collector and sought his intervention to mitigate their problems. Jajpur district collector had also recommended the railway authorities to make an underpass near Gobandia-Badheidanda for the greater interest of the villagers, but in vain. The villagers also met officials of Railway Vikash Nigam Limited in Bhubaneswar to address their problems. Again, it yielded no results.