UTTARKASHI: It was a special day for 725-odd residents of pictures que Osla village, as a district magistrate (DM) visited the village for the first time since the formation of Uttarakhand.DM Ashish Chauhan , who was on a two-day visit to Mori block, reached Osla with a team of officials on Friday to hear and resolve their grievances. Locals lauded Chauhan’s efforts, who undertook a 14 kilometre trek, passing through difficult terrains, to reach the village where no other DM has gone since 1997.“Osla village is located at the border of Govind National Park and is renowned as the entry point of Har Ki Doon valley. As the nearest motorable road is at Taluka village, which is 14 kilometres away, rarely any government official visits here. However, we are delighted by the district magistrate’s presence, who crossed thorough difficult terrains to hear our grievances,” said Sushila Rana, gram pradhan of Osla village.She added that despite the area surrounding Osla being a hot tourist destination, the village is still deprived of healthcare, road and other basic facilities, forcing villagers to live a “primitive life”. “Besides, our children travel at least 25 kilometers to reach school. However, with the visit of top officials here, we hope that some sort of developmental work will begin in our village.”Meanwhile, local villager and Congress leader Rajpal Rawat said, “Osla village produces good amount of rajma (kidney bean), chaulai (amaranth), potato and has potential for large scale apple cultivation. Besides, the village could also be developed as a tourism hub. These important components are sufficient to improve the economy and life standards of the villagers, but due to lack basic facilities and poor willpower of government agencies, this beautiful village got never developed. However, the visit of the district magistrate has ignited hope among the villagers.”After taking note of their grievances, Ashish Chauhan told TOI that he will send a proposal for the construction of a 25 km-long-road connecting Sankri village to Osla. He said the work will get begin soon the state government sanctions budget.“We have also distributed satellite phone, stretcher and fire extinguisher for emergency situations. Overlooking the pity situation of remote villages of the district, we have made a special team of officials which will conduct regular ground survey of these villages and will give complete details of development works and other issues to me in every three months,” Chauhan said.