Bhubaneswar, July 6: Tension prevailed at Pipili following the death of a youth at the local primary health centre today.

Local villagers blocked the national highway connecting Bhubaneswar and Puri near the Pipili tollgate, causing inconvenience for devotees, who were on their way to Puri to observe the annual chariot festival.

The roadblock took place around 9.30am after 24-year-old Tapan Maharana of Atharabhaga village died at the Pipili Primary Health Centre. Maharana was admitted to the medical facility with high fever and abdominal pain early today. He died there after two hours.

Parents and relatives of the deceased alleged medical negligence by the doctors and demanded strong action against them. "The doctors delayed in attending my son. If they knew that his condition was serious, they could have referred him to any hospital in Bhubaneswar. Strong action should be initiated against the doctor," said the deceased's father.

Later, the villagers staged a roadblock on the highway demanding adequate compensation and action against the doctors. The blockade, which had continued for around 45 minutes, came to an end with intervention of police.

On the other hand, travellers heading for Puri faced a lot of inconvenience because of the roadblock. Hundreds of vehicles were spotted stranded on the road near the Pipili tollgate.

"All the buses going to Puri were overloaded as all are heading for the temple town to observe rath yatra. It was, therefore, almost impossible for us to remain inside the bus that got stranded on the road for so long. It is unfortunate that the villagers blocked the road despite knowing the fact that it was rath yatra and lakhs of devotees were going to Puri," said Somesh Rout, a passenger.

The commuters also demanded that the police should take stern action against the demonstrators. "No one has the right to seize the movement of vehicles on such an auspicious day. They may have vented their ire by staging the demonstration, but at the same time, they have caused inconvenience to those, who had got nothing to do with the hospital mishap and in no way could be associated with it. The protesters should have thought about the hardship, which the devotees would face. The police should book the demonstrators," demanded another passenger.