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Bandh disrupts train services in Orissa

Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

OUT OF WORK: A porter takes a nap at Bhubaneswar Railway station on Monday. —

BHUBANESWAR: Train services under East Coast Railway (ECR) was badly disrupted on Monday due to the 12-hour bandh call given by Opposition parties to protest against the Government’s alleged indifferent attitude towards recent cholera deaths, female foeticides and circulation of fake medicines.

While ECR cancelled some trains originating from Orissa, some trains were controlled at different stations and some were short terminated and rescheduled.

There was no report violence in railway network due to bandh observed by the parties including Congress, CPI (M), CPI, Orissa Gana Parishad and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

However, long-distance passengers faced great deal of inconveniences in the middle of their journey.

"We had to shift three persons to Balugaon hospitals as their condition was found to be serious.

They were going to avail medical facilities in Bangalore," Director General of Police Amarananda Pattanayak said.

According to ECR sources, the trains, which were cancelled, included Sambalpur-Rayagada Express, Sambalpur-Puri Inter City Express, Sambalpur-Howrah Spat Express, Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Inter-City Express, Bhubaneswar-Howrah Jan Satabdi Express and Bhubaneswar-Bolangir Express.

Similarly, Cuttack-Paradeep passenger trains, Puri-Howrah Passenger and Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Issaquah Express were cancelled in wake of the bandh.

The trains, which were rescheduled, included Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express and Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express.

About 20 express and passenger trains were controlled at different stations from early morning on Monday starting from 3.30 a.m onwards, ECR sources said.

While Trivandrum-Shalimar Express was controlled at Chhatrapur, Chennai-Howrah Coromandal Express at Berhamapur and Hyderabad-Howrah East Coast Express at Ichhapuram.

In the evening, reports reaching from different parts of the state said train services over were limping back to normalcy after completion of 12 hours Orissa Bandh.

Stranded express and passenger trains started running after 4 pm onwards, for which trains originating from Puri and Bhubaneswar were rescheduled.

Meanwhile, 2048 activists were arrested from across Cuttack district while the maximum detentions were made in the city.

Police sources said at least 600 Congress and 500 activists of CPM, CPI and Forward Bloc were detained under preventive arrests in the city.

The police had set up five detention camps in the city and all the arrested persons were released later in the evening.

The commuters faced untold miseries as not a single bus plied on any road.

No passenger buses left the biggest bus terminus at Badambadi in Cuttack.

Similarly, the train services were also severely hit as bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks.

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