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Call for Cuttack bandh

CUTTACK: Demanding resignation of Cuttack Mayor Nibedita Pradhan and stringent action against erring officials for the city’s unprecedented water-logging earlier this month, the Left parties and Samajwadi Party have called for a dawn to dusk bandh on August 23.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress party terming the Cuttack deluge as "man made" has urged the central range Revenue Divisional Commissioner Suresh Mohapatra to submit its report to the High Court soon. Threatening to initiate criminal proceedings against the officers responsible for Cuttack’s woes, the High Court had directed the RDC to conduct a probe and submit its report within 10 days. Mr. Mohapatra has assured the Congress delegates that he would submit his report to the court on or before August 17.

Launching a tirade against the ruling combine of BJD and BJP, the Left parties, CPM, CPI and Forward Bloc, blame the Mayor and city legislator for the present woes of the Millennium City. Why should the people of the city suffer for no fault of theirs? ask the Opposition parties stating that the people of Cuttack voted BJD-BJP to form the council of the civic body.

"Even the two Assembly segments, City and Sadar, are returning either BJD or BJP nominees for the last three consecutive terms. Yet the present government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is continuously neglecting the city which served as the State Capital for more than 900 years in its 1000 years of existence," alleged CPM leader Subash Singh.

Mr. Singh said Cuttack’s perennial problem of water logging has been further aggravated due to conversion of its some 1880 water bodies into homestead land. "The water bodies were acting as absorbers of rain water but they have been filled up now and handed over to builders for construction of residential houses at the behest of legislator Samir Dey of BJP who is now a Cabinet Minister," Mr. Singh alleged

He said the two ruling parties would not be allowed to take the people of the city granted anymore and they ought to be taught a lesson. “We would launch a series of agitational programmes and the 12-hour Cuttack bandh next week is a precursor to a mass agitation against the present government,” the Opposition party leaders announced.

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