Malkangiri: Residents of Dhuliput panchayat in Malkangiri district were appalled to see a Government official visiting their locality for the first time in a long while after Chitrakonda Block Development Officer (BDO) walked miles to reach out to them and get to know about issues affecting them.

It may be mentioned here that seven out of the nine Panchayats under Chitrakonda block are still cut off from the outer world and no Government official ever visited the region after former Collector R Vineel Krishna was kidnapped by Maoists for bringing electricity to Siliguma village in 2011.

It was yesterday, when Chitrakonda BDO Larimen Kharsal along with his team drove 30 kilometres and then walked for over three hours crossing rocky hills and rivers to reach the remote area. After walking for eight to 10 kms, the BDO held a meeting with the villagers and enquired about various problems faced by them.

The BDO later promised the villagers to provide road connectivity to the Panchayat on a priority basis.

He said, “Lack of road connectivity is the major problem in this region. Many Government welfare schemes have failed to reach out to the beneficiaries here in the absence of road connectivity. So my first priority is to ensure road connectivity to all cut off Panchayats under Chitrakonda block,"

"I have all the support from the district administration for the same. I will begin the work on war-footing and ensure its completion at the earliest,” said Larimen, who received an overwhelming response from the people in the area.