Cong road blockade agitation evokes mixed response

A strike call by Congress for all vehicles to stay off the road in Chhattisgarh to press for the release of water from dams in view of insufficient rains today drew a mixed response.
The strike passed off without any significant traffic snarls in the district headquarters while thin crowds of protesters was witnessed in a majority of the block headquarters.
Around 300 Congress workers, including state party chief Bhupesh Baghel, Raipur Mayor Pramod Dubey and former MLA Kuldeep Singh Juneja were detained in the state capital as they were leading road blockades, a police official said.
"Around 300 Congress workers, including senior leaders, were arrested in Raipur district during the protest," said Raipur SP BN Meena.

While Baghel and Dubey, along with some other leaders, were apprehended at Lalpur on the Raipur-Dhamtari road, Juneja was detained at Telibandha on the Raipur-Kolkata national highway, the SP said. He added that they were later released unconditionally.
Later, talking to reporters, Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said, "The road blockade protest by Congress along with farmers was successful. Although the state government tried to thwart it by arresting farmers and party workers, they failed to suppress our voice."

He said that though a drought-like situation has been reported from several parts of the state due to a rain shortfall, the BJP government has not taken any concrete steps to deal with the situation.

"What's wrong in releasing water from dams if there is a requirement. We have been demanding water from Ravishankar reservoir in Gangrel village (Dhamtari) for irrigation, but no response has been received from the government yet," he said.
Trivedi urged the government to declare the state as drought-affected and take necessary steps to ensure relief to farmers.