Bhubaneswar: Normal life was partially disrupted across Odisha on Wednesday following a bandh called by the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS), a farmers’ outfit, over alleged irregularities in paddy procurement, with the Congress extending support.Protesters staged road blockades and demonstrations at several places, affecting traffic and leading to the closure of shops, businesses and some educational institutions. But food supplies minister Krushna Chandra Patra dismissed the bandh as a ‘flop show’.
Protesters blocked the Puri bypass road connecting Bhubaneswar with Puri and the road at Uttara Chak by burning tyres on the road. Many buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles were stranded in the morning hours.The inter-state bus terminal at Baramunda, the Netaji bus terminal at Cuttack and several bus stands in the state were deserted in the morning hours. While city buses in Bhubaneswar were running, many private buses were not plying, fearing any attack or vandalism by protesters.Protesters stopped some buses with passengers in the middle of the road. Many people waited for buses at bus terminals and bus stops, but they did not find any until 2 pm. “My brother-in-law is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. My bus was stopped at Chandikhole,” said Bilas Patra from Bhadrak.Districts like Bargarh, Balangir, Sonepur and other places in western Odisha felt the impact of the Odisha bandh. Train services were running without any hassle. As the bandh was from 6 am to 2 pm, traffic returned to normal in the afternoon.Police detained several protesters from NKS at Master Canteen Square here. “The bandh was peaceful across the state. Our focus is on issues related to peasants, power and pollution. We want govt to streamline the paddy procurement process in favour of farmers, stop collecting additional security deposits from power consumers and sort out the pollution under control (PUC) certificate issue. If govt does not solve these issues, we will conduct a state-wide stir again,” said NKS chief Akshaya Kumar.The food supplies minister said genuine farmers did not take part in the Odisha bandh. “As govt is providing Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy, farmers are happy with the govt. We did not find any impact of the bandh. Some people are misleading farmers. We appeal to farmers to stay away from these people,” he added.He said some protesters said govt procured 25 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, but actually, we procured 37.91 lakh metric tonnes until Tuesday. “We also paid more than Rs 8,000 crore to farmers. Paddy procurement is underway smoothly across the state,” he added.
