Bharat bandh hits life in Odisha, disrupts road and railway traffic
India Today
The two-day Bharat bandh call by various trade unions has hit vehicular and railway movement across Odisha, putting commuters in a fix.
The first day of the two-day Bharat Bandh called by a joint platform of central trade unions and bank employees' forum that began at 6 am on Monday hit normal life in Odisha.
Different trade union leaders reached the Bhubaneswar railway station around 6 am and staged a blockade, protesting the privatisation of government-owned companies, price rise, and other central government policies. Two trains were blocked by the protesters at the railway station while buses were also stopped at Bhubaneswar’s Baramunda bus stand.
Holding placards and banners, members of the trade unions spread across the city and staged road blockades. Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks and buses, remained stranded on both sides of the national highway near Acharya Vihar Flyover, Communication Point, on the Kolkata-Chennai route in Bhubaneswar as the agitators blocked the road.
Traffic in Bhubaneswar was severely hit due to the Bharat Bandh.
Reports of normal life being disrupted due to picketing by agitators in other districts, such as Balasore, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, and Rourkela have also emerged.
Sectors like banking, insurance, Income Tax, postal services, telecom, power, oil, steel, coal, and copper were also affected in Odisha. State Bank of India had earlier issued a statement saying that banking services were likely to be affected on March 28 and 29.
Although educational institutions and emergency services, like hospitals, were exempted from the bandh call, a few schools that were scheduled to begin in-person classes from Monday postponed the re-opening date to March 30.
