ANGUL: The strike by central trade unions disrupted operations at the MCL coal mines and Nalco plant while leaving other industries largely unaffected across Angul and Dhenkanal districts on Wednesday.
While workers affiliated to INTUC, HMS and CITU participated in the strike, the BJP supported Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh stayed away from it.
Talcher coal mines including, Lingaraj, Ananta, Jaganath, Bhubaneswari, Bharatpur, Hingula and Kaniha were paralysed for over five hours from 6 am till 11 am, severely affecting coal despatch by rail and road.
Workers were led by INTUC leader Souvagya Pradhan, Shankar Behera and others.
Similarly, at Nalco, two plant gates at the power plant and smelter remained closed for two hours, preventing workers from entering the premises. Aluminium despatch from Nalco smelter was also halted due to the strike.
However, situation at the 3000MW NTPC-Kaniha remained normal with workers staging demonstrations only at the plant gate.
Angul SP Rahul Jain said, the strike went off peacefully with five platoons of police deployed across the district. “Except for the coal mines affected in the morning, all other industries functioned normally and there were no arrests made,” he said.
On the other hand, in Dhenkanal district, all industries operated normally with no untoward incidents, informed SP Abhinav Sonkar.