Patna, Aug 17 : In a symbolic protest, the farmers in Bihar's Purnea planted paddy seeds on a NH 31 stretch filled with potholes and muddy puddles in the Bayasi block of the district on Thursday. The villagers of Sugav Mahanandpur panchayat are miffed with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as the 7-8 km stretch between Dangra and Chatangi is in a very bad shape. Muddy puddles are all over the place for which it takes the commuters almost two hours to cover a distance of 8 km, as a large numbers of potholes only add to their woes. The villagers claimed that the condition of the road deteriorated during the 2017 floods. Since then, the authorities have not repaired or re-constructed the road. Losing all hope, the local farmers on Thursday planted paddy seeds on the NH stretch as a mark of symbolic protest. Recently, they had met the SDM of Bayasi who had assured them of construction of the road. /IANS