No road, no vote, threaten villagers

Dharamsala, October 10

Residents of four villages, Heni, Sukeri, Mated and Khatad, today protested and announced that they would boycott the Dharamsala bypoll. They alleged that even after 72 years of Independence, their villages had not been developed.

They said if any resident of their village fell ill, they had to lift him and bring down to Dharamkot or Bhagsunag from where he could be taken to a hospital in a vehicle. They had been demanding the road connectivity, however, no government had done anything. So, they decided to boycott the polls this time. The government has failed the get permission from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to construct roads to the villages. — TNS