12-Hour Bandh Over Delay in Rly Project Stalls Traffic In Odisha’s Nabarangpur

Bhubaneswar: Vehicular traffic was severely hit in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district on Tuesday due to 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh over delay in land acquisition by the state government for Jeypore-Nabarangpur railway project.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded as Yuva Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged blockades at various places in Nabarangpur town, including on NH-26 near Majhiguda. The protestors were also seen picketing at various places in the district, calling for closure of offices and educational institutions. Shops and business establishments also downed shutters.

Emergency services have been excluded from the ambit of the bandh.

The protesters alleged that the state government had failed to acquire land for the railway project even eight years after release of funds from the Centre. “Our district is devoid of rail communication even after 75 years of Independence. The Modi government granted a railway project from Jeypore to Nabarangpur in 2016 and the state government agreed to provide land and bear 50 per cent of the project cost. While Centre has been allocating a budget for the project every year, the state government is yet to earmark even a penny for the same. No land has been acquired for the project,” said a agitator.

The saffron party also demanded the state government to officially recognise Nabarangpur College and Pendrani College at Umerkote as government colleges.

They have threatened to gherao the Odisha Legislative Assembly if their demands are not met within one month.