Normal life in Odisha hit by BJD's hartal

Bhubaneswar : Normal life was disrupted across Odisha and sporadic violence reported during a five- hour ‘hartal’ called by the ruling BJD to protest hike in petrol and diesel prices.

Shops, business establishments and several educational institutions remained shut in Bhubaneshwar and elsewhere in the state during the ‘hartal’ from 7 am to 12 pm. Vehicular movement came to a grinding halt and roads wore a deserted look as vehicles including passenger buses kept off the roads leaving a large number of people stranded at bus stands, police said.

Train services were also affected for some time as BJD activists staged rail roko at some places including at Berhampur and Puri, official sources said. Hartal supporters picketed and put up road blockade at major junctions in the state capital by burning tyres.

Several activists carrying sticks were seen preventing people from moving on roads. Several vehicles were attacked with sticks and stones at some places and damaged, while the picketeers allegedly heckled commuters in some localities here, the sources said.

Ambulances were stopped at some places and asked to take different routs though BJD had called for a peaceful hartal keeping essential and kept emergency services like hospitals out of its purview. Apart from the state capital, the impact of the hartal was felt at Khurda, Puri, Berhampur, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Balasore and other places.

Reports of hartal were received from district, sub-division and block headquarters. BJD spokesperson Sanjay Dasburma said the party has launched the agitation to protest against the steep hike in the price of petrol and diesel despite a slide in crude oil price in the international market.

Senior BJD leaders said the agitation would continue till the Centre reduced fuel prices, which have hit hard the common people. While the international crude prices have fallen, the NDA government has failed to take steps to reduce the price of petrol and diesel, they said.

Noting that frequent increase in fuel prices had adverse impact on the common people, the BJD leaders said fuel price hike would have a cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities.

Hitting out at the BJD for violence at several places during the hartal, senior BJP leaders including party’s state unit vice-president Samir Mohanty said though the ruling party had claimed that its strike would be peaceful, the general people faced immense hardship due to violent incidents.