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Banking transactions to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore were impacted as the normal life came to a standstill across Odisha due to a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Congress to protest alleged mismanagement in brahma parivartan rituals of presiding deities of the Puri temple.
The deities have undergone makeover of their images, a once in a two-decade event known as Nabakalebar and brahma parivartan formed focal part of this ceremony.
"The bank business today took a toll due to the bandh called by the Congress. The party activists staged picketing at the bank branches forcing them to pull down shutters. The business to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore was impacted due the bandh," said Jyoti Bhushan Mohapatra, State Convenor, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).
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The stir called by the principal opposition party also impacted the business of traders.
"Business deals worth Rs 1,500 crore was impacted as all shops remained closed. The net loss was about Rs 150 crore for the 12 hour bandh," said Sudhakar Panda, Secretary, Odisha Baybasayai Mahasangha.
The movement of trains and commercial vehicles were badly hit in several parts of the state leaving the passengers stranded at different places. All schools, colleges, and several offices were closed due to the bandh.
The protesters squatted on railway tracks at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and other railway stations forcing the railway authorities to cancel and short terminate the trains.
Police were deployed in strength in the state capital and other places to prevent any untoward incident. Security was tightened outside the residences of the chief minister and other ministers.
However, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today attended the office amid tight security. The impact of the bandh was also felt in Dehnakanal, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jeypur, Balasore, Sundergarh Puri, Bhadrak, Sambalpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.
Stray incidences of violence were reported from few places including Bhubaneswar and Nayagarh even as police arrested hundreds Congress workers picketing at public places.
However, the bandh had little impact on the industries in southern Odisha as most private and central government organisations continued with their normal operations.
'Our employees were in the plant before the bandh began. So, there was no effect on the plant operation," said a senior officer in Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL), a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries near Kashipur in Rayagada district.
The bandh supporters, however, staged road blockade at Tikiri, near the plant site of the UAIL.
The Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) under the Atomic Energy department also did not face any hassles. State-run National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) too continued its normal operations at Damanjodi in Koraput district.
Vedanta Limited at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, JK Paper near Rayagada, Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries Limited (ACSIL) at Aska in Ganjam districts did not report any loss of work due to the day long stir.
The Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) meeting for the Vedanta Limited was held at Bhawanipatna under the chairmanship of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division Sanjay Singh.
Thanking the people and various organizations for supporting the bandh, state Congress chief Prasad Harichandan termed it as an unprecedented success.
Blaming the chief minister for the lapses in the temple rituals, Narasingh Mishra, leader of opposition in the state assembly said, "the chief minister should resign immediately after seeing this spontaneous response of people to the bandh call."
"The bandh called by the Congress was intended to politicise the sacred Nabakalebar festival of Lord Jagannath. It seems that the party was trying to revive its sagging fortunes through this bandh," said Paratap Keshari Deb, spokesperson, Biju Janata Dal.
