The Kishore Nagar bandh called by the locals, protesting the proposed R Power Plant in the block, disrupted road and rail services on Friday.
The agitators, under the banner of Jiban Jibika and Krushi Jami Surakhya Samiti, blocked the traffic on NH-55 at Bamur and paralysed several train services. Though the road blockade was lifted around 12.30 pm following police intervention, the agitators refused to call off picketing Bamur station. The stir hit movement of inter-city and passenger trains linking Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur, while long-distance trains bore the brunt, railway officials here informed.
The protestors, many of whom depend on agriculture for livelihood, have been repeatedly staging stirs for the last two years in Kishore Nagar and Angul demanding scrapping of the project. Kishore Nagar happens to be the Assembly constituency of Commerce and Transport Minister Sanjeev Sahu.
Describing the stir as a warning to Government, SUCI leader Manas Swain said, “It is high time Government understood the people’s sentiments and drop the power plant proposal.’’
People were assured that they would be invited for talks with district administration after the panchayat polls, said Additional SP Jyoti Mahapatra.
JR Power, a Karnataka-based company, signed an MoU with the State Government in 2009 to set up the power plant on 2000 acres. This is likely to affect the people of five panchayats.
