Normal life was thrown out of gear across Odisha on Wednesday due to day-long strike called by Central trade unions protesting against amendments in labour laws and privatisation of PSUs.
Vehicular traffic and train services were hit as union activists and supporters of the bandh squatted on railway tracks at many places.
Transport services and banking operations were the worst affected. Hundreds of people were seen stranded at railway stations and bus terminals.
Most educational institutions, business establishments, petrol pumps, many government institutions and courts remained closed. However, some shops opened towards evening.
Apart from cities such as Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the bandh affected life in Berhampur, Sambalpur, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore, Angul, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Keonjhar, Jagatsinghpur, Paradip and Jajpur districts.
Many Ministers reached their offices at the State Secretariat in the early morning hours to escape roadblocks.
Adding to the impact of the strike, the BJP organised rallies outside the residence of Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in Bhubaneswar and at all district headquarters in protest against the death of over 60 children at Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack.
The Congress is also scheduled to organise a demonstration outside the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday over the Sishu Bhavan deaths.
Both opposition parties are critical of the Chief Minister as he has not visited Sishu Bhavan during the controversy over the infant deaths.
Prasanta Patnaik