In a statement issued here on Wednesday, panchayat sarpanch Chimanbhai Wada said the villagers of Sati, Bangan, Bamda, Kutarnachiya, Gorasta, Khapi, Kasoda and Sunda had earlier decided to boycott Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in February. But following assurances from officials, who promised to construct the road before the onset of the monsoon, they had withdrawn their agitation only to realise that they had been taken for a ride.

The forest department had allocated Rs 9 lakh for constructing the road, but the local officials instead used the money to erect roadside walls, the statement claimed, adding that even that work was not complete.

Local authorities and the forest department, the sarpanch has said, claim that they cannot construct the road unless the Directorate of Rural Development Agency provides them more grants. The sarpanch, however, refuses to buy the argument. ``We have been let down by politicians as well as government officials who seem to be indifferent towards our problem,'' the sarpanch has said, pointing that after waiting for long villagers were forced to stage a rasta roko to pressurise the government to built the road.