BJD hartal over closure of Kalma barrage gates hits life in western Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Life came to a grinding halt in the districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh Jharsuguda and Sonepur on Saturday with the BJD observing four-hour hartal over Mahanadi water dispute with the neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
Owing to the strike, shops and commercial establishments remained shut while vehicular movement was adversely affected across the four districts. However, essential services were spared from the purview of the protest.
The party activists blocked roads at several places, including the busy NH-49 at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district.
“To garner public support on the longstanding dispute, rallies, demonstrations and protest meetings were organized by the party members at different places during the four-hour (6 am to 10 am) strike. A conspiracy has been hatched by Chhattisgarh government to dry up Mahanadi river by closing the gates of Kalma,one of the six barrages constructed unilateral by the Chhattisgarh government across the river. The Raman Singh government is yet to respond to the several requests made by chief minister Naveen Patnaik for immediate opening of barrage gates to ensure free flow of water in the river,” a senior BJD leader said.