By TC News Desk
Agartala, 22nd July 2025: Tribal residents of Panai Bazar in Kailashahar staged a protest on Tuesday by blocking the 208-alternative National Highway, demanding immediate repair of a severely damaged village road. The blockade, which began at 10 a.m., caused traffic congestion and left many commuters stranded for hours.
Panai Bazar, situated in Ward No. 4 of Mailang ADC Village, is home to around a hundred tribal families who rely on a single seven-kilometer stretch of road connecting the village to Shantipur. According to the protesters, the road has become virtually unusable due to massive potholes and lack of maintenance, despite being a tar road.
“This is the only road we have. It’s full of potholes and completely impassable for vehicles. Ambulances can’t reach us, and our children can’t go to school or college,” said one of the protestors.
Villagers alleged that while half of the road was repaired nearly eight months ago, the remaining work has been inexplicably left unfinished. Their repeated pleas to authorities yielded no result, prompting Tuesday’s highway blockade.
A large contingent of police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel arrived at the scene and attempted to convince the protesters to clear the road. However, the villagers stood firm, stating they would not lift the blockade unless concrete steps were taken to start the repair work.
By noon, officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) arrived and held discussions with the villagers. The officials assured that temporary repairs using bricks and rubble would begin the same afternoon and that full-scale restoration would commence within three months.
Following this assurance, the blockade was lifted around 12:30 p.m., restoring traffic flow in the area.
