Bhubaneswar, Aug 17: The Odisha Bandh on Tuesday in connection with the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh had put the train and bus passengers through great inconvenience.
Many passengers were stranded at the Baramunda Bus stand for hours waiting for the bus services to start. To make matters even more difficult, none of the eating joints were open for the passengers and they had nothing to eat or drink. Due to the rail roko, many trains were either cancelled or halted that caused the train passengers a lot of inconvenience.
Only two wheeler were seen on the roads as most of the residents preferred to remain indoors. Besides, many people in the city had to go by foot to reach their destinations as auto rickshaws and the City buses were also off the roads.
Police men stood guard at arm’s length on the stretch from Naveen Nivas to State Secretariat to ward off any unwanted situation during the Chief Minister’s journey to the Secretariat.
Some Ministers like Arun Sahu, Pradeep Maharathy and Atanu Sabyasachi came to the Secretariat by two wheeler and entered by the back gate.
The city’s poor bore the brunt of the bandh as the nine Aahar centres in Bhubaneswar were shut due to the bandh.
The trucks ferrying goods to the city or passing through the National Highway were parked bumper to bumper at Rasulgarh and Khandagiri. The biggest problem for the truck drivers was that they were carrying perishable goods and the delay in transit would cost them a lot.
However, PCC Chief Prasad later apologized for the inconvenience caused by the bandh.
