BALANGIR:THE 12-hour bandh called by Koshal State Coordination Committee for a separate Koshal State disrupted normal life in the districts of Balangir and Sonepur on Friday. All government and private offices, banks and insurance offices remained closed while schools and colleges declared a holiday. Commuters faced untold difficulties as movement of vehicular traffic was paralysed by the protestors.
Business establishments too had downed shutters to avoid any damage to property.The bandh was total in Kantabanji, Titilagarh, Patnagarh, Bongamunda, Sindhekela, Chudapali, Saintala, Belpara, Turekela and Muribahal of Balangir district and Sonepur, Binka and Tarbha of Sonepur district.
The villages and some towns along NH-26 and NH-57 observed bandh making it a success. In the morning in Balangir, activists of the Koshal committee went around the towns appealing to people to shut down their establishments. Later, they gathered in front of the district collectorate and held a meeting.
Chairman of Central Advisory Committee of Koshal Kranti Dal (KKD) Pramod Kumar Mishra said, “We are not free. We were forcibly attached to coastal Odisha though our language and culture is completely different. Moreover, we are victims of regional imbalance. People and rulers of coastal areas are exploiting our region. Formation of Koshal State is the only solution for all these issues for which we have been fighting and many organisations have come forward to support us.”