Odisha Congress calls indefinite Malkangiri bandh

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Malkangiri, May 10:

An indefinite bandh called by Odisha unit of Congress in Malkangiri over water and electricity supply issues today paralysed life in the district.

Agitators were seen picketing across various places of the district in general and Malkangiri town in particular to make the bandh successful. Hundreds of Congress workers including former Nabarangpur MP Pradip Majhi were seen marching towards the collector’s office with placards in hand.

“We had given the district administration seven days time to sort out the water and electricity issues. However, no action was taken. We are going to cut off the water supply from their quarters so that they can realize the trouble the common men are going through,” said Majhi speaking to reporters.

“Even though the government has announced that there would be no power cut in the state, power failure is quite common here. It last hours an disrupts communication, water supply and other crucial services among others. The officials have turned a deaf ear to our complaints. We are left with no choice but to disrupt the water and electricity connections to their houses to make them understand our situation,” said an agitator.

While vehicular traffic came to a standstill because of the bandh, most shops and government offices remained closed. Passengers were seen stranded in bus stops.

Even though there have been no reports of violence so far, security measures have been beefed up to avoid any untoward incident.