Villagers in a remote area of Chinyalisaud in Uttarkashi district have threatened to boycott polling in the Lok Sabha election if the stalled work of constructing a road from Tilpad to border village Ulan is not resumed within one week. The residents of the affected villages submitted a memorandum to the district authorities on Monday.

The villagers stated in their memorandum that the road was approved for nine Gram Sabhas but the Public Works Department worked on only a five-kilometre stretch. The villagers said that they have to walk up to seven kilometres to procure articles of daily need or when they have to visit the block, Tehsil and departmental headquarters at Chinyalisaud. The villagers said that they will not vote in the Lok Sabha election if the road construction work is not resumed within a week. Submitting the memorandum, local resident Gopal Singh Rana said that the issue should be taken up seriously by the authorities. The villagers are facing considerable inconvenience due to work on construction of the road being stopped. This is also affecting the quality of their life, he added.

The villagers said that in addition to boycotting the election if the road construction work is not resumed within a week, they will be forced to start an agitation in support of their demand if the authorities remain apathetic. Gamri Gram Pradhan Vikas Kumar, Chamiyari Pradhan Sushil Jogele, block Panchayat member Praveen Kumar, Rauntal Pradhan Naveen Kumar and others were present on the occasion.

It is pertinent to mention here that the villagers of remote village Dumak in Chamoli district have also threatened to boycott the election if the construction of the road approved to the village is not started. The authorities have started road cutting in the area but the villagers are not convinced.