BANDH IN B’NGIR, SUBARNAPUR: KOSAL STATE DEMANDED Saturday, 25 November 2017 | PNS | BALANGIR/SONEPUR | in Bhubaneswar

BANDH IN B’NGIR, SUBARNAPUR: KOSAL STATE DEMANDED

Saturday, 25 November 2017 | PNS | BALANGIR/SONEPUR | in Bhubaneswar

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Normal life in Balangir town and elsewhere in the district was affected on Friday due to a 12-hour bandh call given by the Kosal State Coordination Committee (KSCC) protesting against the “continuous neglect of this region and demanding formation of separate Kosal State”.

Shops and other business establishment, post offices, petrol pumps, banks and Government offices remain closed. The District and Sessions Judge Court was also closed. Both Government and private Buses were off the road. However, trains services were normal.

KSCC members along with activists of different organisations went round the town and shouted slogans for formation of a separate Kosal State.

KSCC chief coordinator Pramod Mishra said, “Today, people of Balangir and Subarnapur districts have supported the bandh for a separate Kosal State. Prior to merger with the State of Odisha in 1948, the ex-Patna state was a rich and prosperous one. After the merger, many reputed institutions and industries of this region were either shifted to other places or neglected totally. As a result, our region remains economically backward and facing distress migration in the absence livelihood and job opportunities. We demand a separate Kosal State under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. Henceforth, the Kosal movement would be taken to village level to intensify our agitation further.”

Later a meeting was held before the district Collectriate where Pramod Mishra, Gopalji Pangrahi of the Balangir Action Committee, advocate Dolamani Pradhan and Ravi Shankar Mishra and other organisations’ leaders, members of the Citizen Committee decried the State Government’s neglect of the region and demanded formation of a separate Kosal State.

There was no report of any incident from any parts of the district and the bandh was peaceful, said Additional Superintendent of Police Sashibhushan  Satpathy to this correspondent over phone.

The bandh in the neighbouring Subarnapur district called by the KSCC also passed off peacefully.

Educational institutions, commercial establishments and Government offices remained closed in all the blocks. Traffic was disrupted on the Khordha-alangir National Highway and other roads connecting Sonepur as vehicles were not allowed to ply through the town.

Many social organisations supported the bandh in all six blocks in the district.