Over 500 school students blocked an arterial road at Namkhana in South 24-Parganas for about five hours on Tuesday to protest the administration's alleged laxity in repairing a 4km stretch rendered inaccessible during this monsoon.

At least two high schools and one primary school are located on the stretch that is regularly used by at least 2,000 students apart from local residents and other commuters.

To express solidarity with the "genuine" demand of students, several local residents, guardians and traders joined the agitation.

The blockade, which continued till 3pm, lifted only after Abhishek Das, the president of Namkhana panchayat samiti, gave a written assurance to the students of starting repair work within a month. The students had earlier refused to budge when police officers requested them to lift the blockade, insisting on a written assurance from the administration.

Class XI student of Chandanpiri Murari Mohan High School (HS), Snighdha Maity, who took part in the blockade, said: “We put up the blockade as a last resort to draw the attention of the local administration. We lifted it to respect the written assurance of the panchayat samiti president. We will protest again if the written promise is not honoured."

Local sources said the 4km stretch of Haripur Ghat Road near Chandanpiri Murari Mohan High School (HS) has been marked with huge potholes and the recent spell of rain only worsened it.

The condition of Haripur Ghat Road, an arterial service road in Namkhana town, had become dilapidated for lack of maintenance for the last few years. The responsibility for maintaining the road constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is with the South 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad. However, no repairs were carried out apparently because of funds crisis.

“The black top of the road has peeled off long back and potholes make walking and cycling very difficult. During monsoon, the stretch goes underwater and the movement of heavy vehicles causes further damage. Accidents are a regular affair on the stretch," said Class XII student Shreya Das, who took part in the agitation.

Shreya added that the dilapidated stretch of the road had forced many students to stop attending school.

Moumita Karan, a student of Chandanpiri Murari Mohan High School (HS), said: "The road gets flooded during rainfall. We have to wade in muddy water to reach school."

A teacher of the school said: "We have on several occasions requested the BDO and panchayat samiti officials to get the road repaired. But nothing has been done. We hope the panchayat official keeps the promise in writing that he has made to the students."

The president of Namkhana panchayat samitI, Das, said he had so far been unaware of the condition of the road.

"There had been no appeal from any level to repair the road in the past," he said.

He, however, promised to start repairing the damaged stretch at the earliest.

"I have assured the protesting students to undertake repair of the road within a month. I hope students' grievances related to the road goes away soon," Das told The Telegraph.