Balangir: Normal functioning of civic work was affected here on Friday as members of the Balangir Citizens' Committee locked the municipal office and staged a protest over its "failure to address the acute dust issue" in the town.

The citizens' committee had earlier asked the municipality to address the dust issue before January 18. It had also threatened that it would be left with no option but to launch a protest in front of the Balangir Municipality if it failed to address the issue of air pollution.

Several residents of the town have lent their support to the citizens' committee in protest. The committee members have accused the municipal authority of gross negligence towards civic issues afflicting the town.

Citizen Ram Shankar Biswal said the citizens' committee's concern about air pollution was justified.

"They are protesting for a just cause and it is a very important issue for the people of Balangir. It is the duty of the municipality to look after sanitation and a hygiene issue of its residents. But, it has flatly failed to live up to the expectation," Biswal said. He also said that the municipality's recent dust cleaning drive was just an eyewash.

"Why is the municipality not taking steps to repair the road with the dust cleaner that is parked right inside its office premises?" asked another resident.

President of Balangir Citizens' Committee Bhabani Shankar Satapathy said that it was very unfortunate that the municipality was so indifferent to such potent health hazard.

"We had highlighted the matter several times to make them realise that dust issues had assumed alarming proportion in the town and it was high time they took necessary steps to address it. But they did nothing. People must come forward to voice their protest to address the issue," Satapathy said.