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Bandh affects normal life in State

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

BANDH EFFECT: A girl walks past the burning tyres in Berhampur on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Normal life across major towns of Orissa was hit by the strike called by trade unions affiliated to Left parties protesting rise in prices of essential commodities and apathetic attitude of Union government towards working class on Wednesday.

Hundreds of trucks and buses remained stranded on national highways and other major roads for hours while business establishments chose to shut down their shutters in view of the strike. Train services were severely affected as bandh activists squatted on the track and many Kolkata-bound flights did not take off from the Biju Patnaik Airport.

Schools, colleges and officers, however, functioned normally. The impact of the bandh was seen during first half of the day and its intensity gradually subsided as the day progressed. In rural pockets, there was no impact of the strike.

However, the strike crippled life in industrial and mining regions where labour unions took the lead in blocking the vehicular movements. Several trains passing through or generating from East Coast Railway jurisdiction were either cancelled or short terminated or rescheduled. Howrah-Chennai Coromandal Express leaving Howrah towards Chennai was cancelled while the Jajpur-Keonjhar Road- Kharagpur- Jajpur-Keonjhar Road Passenger was also cancelled.

Since the morning National Highway 5 passing through Bhubaneswar was blocked at various places by activists of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India Trade Union Congress and All India Students’ Federation (AISF).

Bandh supporters burnt tyres and squatted on roads holding flags while hundreds of police personnel were watching the proceedings silently from a distance. Traffic was diverted from major junctions and people were prevented from going near the venue of demonstration.

The call for Bharat Bandh was too echoed in State Assembly with its monsoon session getting under way from Wednesday. Three left legislators Narayan Reddy (CPI), Laxman Munda (CPM) and Sambhunath Naik sought support from other MLAs for success of the bandh.

Vehicular movement in towns such as Rourkela, Talcher, Paradip and Jajpur Road were affected due to bandh.

However, there was no report of any untoward incidents from the State.

In a separate development, employees of Reserve Bank of India also sat on a strike in line of national strike.

BERHAMPUR: Normal life was affected in Ganjam district and Berhampur on Wednesday due to the bandh call by Left trade unions against price rise and failure of the UPA government to implement the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

In the city, most major market places, business establishments, oil filling stations, post offices, BSNL office and banks remained closed.

Passenger vehicles and trucks were totally off the road. Some educational institutes had declared cancelled their classes for the day but the agitators did not disrupt the functioning of educational institutions that remained open.

Activists of the CPI(M), the CPI and trade unions blocked traffic in some areas by erecting barricades and burning tyres. They picketed and held street corner meetings.

The district secretary of the CPI(M), Kalu Panda thanked the citizens of Ganjam district for the success of the bandh against the anti-people policies of the government.

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