Bandh total, but peaceful.

Bhubaneswar, April 28 -- Normal life was badly hit in the State during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by 13 political parties against the Centre's alleged failure to check price rise. It was the ruling BJD which led the agitation in the State against the UPA Government.

Vehicular movement was paralysed across the State as bandh supporters blocked national highways, State highways and other roads, putting a halt to plying of passenger buses, trucks, taxis and auto-rickshaws. "Odisha bandh has been a success. Odisha Government received the people's support. It remained peaceful in general," said BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Though it was announced that trains would be halted for half an hour only, most of the trains were stopped at various railway stations for hours. Rail services were severely affected. Shops, business establishments and commercial establishments remained closed during the bandh.

Senior BJD leader and MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra also participated in the bandh. "As BJD is the big party in the State, it took the lead in the hartal. The BJD would continue to oppose UPA's anti-farmer's policies. The UPA Government failed to introduce rice and wheat at Rs 3 per kg. They will be ousted from Delhi Durbar. Our voice is now being heard in Delhi," said a jubilant Mohan. "We continued to receive reports about the success of the bandh. People wholeheartedly supported it," he said. BJD Youth Wing president and MLA Sanjay Dasburma also thanked people for supporting the bandh.

The strike affected work in the Central Government offices, public sector units, including Nalco, post offices and banks as bandh supporters resorted to picketing and prevented staff from entering their offices, sources said. Work was also affected in East Cost Railway (ECoR) headquarters due to picketing by bandh supporters, but emergency arrangements had been made by the railway authorities to maintain basic functioning, an official said.

The shut-down also affected normal life in various places like Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Puri, Balangir, Baripada and Khurda. Work in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) remained unaffected as special arrangements were made by the authorities to maintain production in the unit, RSP sources said.

Similarly, work in Paradip Port and plants of IFFCO, Paradeep Phosphates Ltd and other units in Paradip remained unaffected, sources said. Though work was hit at Nalco's corporate office in Bhubaneswar, its smelter unit and captive power plant at Angul and refinery in Damanjodi functioned normally, a senior company official said.

Work at the headquarters of Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd (MCL) as well as its mines were affected due to the strike, sources said.

No untoward incident was reported from any part of the State as the bandh remained peaceful. Several trains were stranded at different railway stations as protesters blocked tracks. Trains like Hyderabad-Howrah Faluknama Express, Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha Express and Bhubaneswer-New Delhi Rajdhani Express were stranded for some time at the Bhubaneswar station.

Similarly, Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express were stopped for some time at Rourkela and other stations. Security was tightened throughout the State with deployment of about 62 platoons to deal with any untoward incident.

The Samajwadi Party Odisha unit president Rabi Behera in a Press release said the hartal was a success in Odisha. "People have given spontaneous support to the hartal," Behera added.

Published by HT Syndication with permission from Pioneer. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at [e-mail]

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