Activists of Koshal Kranti Dal block a road near Brahmani bridge in Rourkela on Saturday demanding a separate state. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Sambalpur, Aug. 3: The demand for a separate Koshal state in western Odisha has gained momentum ever since the Congress Working Committee approved the proposal for formation of a new Telangana state by carving it out of Andhra Pradesh.

The Koshal Kranti Dal, which has been demanding a separate state to be carved out of Odisha for several years, today resorted to road blockades in several districts across western Odisha to intensify its agitation.

Vehicular movement on national and state highways were disrupted for one hour in Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Rourkela, Boudh, Sonepur, Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi and Nuapara districts for the protests. Hundreds of vehicles were seen stranded on either side of the roads.

Chairman of Koshal Kranti Dal Pramod Mishra said the people of region had extended spontaneous support to the agitation. The roads were blocked during 12 noon and 1pm.

“Today, we organised a token agitation. We will continue to fight for the separate state. We have already launched a signature campaign from July 15. A memorandum demanding a separate Koshal state will shortly be submitted to the President of India with one crore signature,” he said.

President of the Sambalpur district unit of the Koshal Kranti Dal Upendra Mohapatra said: “We are victims of negligence. The leaders of the coastal belt have been exploiting us since 1936. We now want a separate Koshal state. Because of the negligence, our region has been lying underdeveloped. A separate state is the only solution of all the problems.”

Mohapatra also appealed to leaders of all the political parties to extend support to the demand for separate statehood.

“In Telangana, leaders of all the political parties supported the movement for a separate state. Political leaders of this region irrespective of party affiliations should also extend their support to the demand for the Koshal state,” he said.

Other regional organisations such as Koshal Kranti Sena and Koshal Ekta Manch had also supported this agitation. However, various major political parties stayed away from the agitation.

Some people of western Odisha have been demanding a separate state alleging neglect to their region. They have been claiming that the Koshali dialect they are speaking is different from Odia language, which is the official language of the state of Odisha.

The state government has formed the Western Odisha Development Council in late nineties to expedite development in the region. However, its critics have labelled it as a “signboard body”.

The demand for Koshal state was raised earlier when the NDA government created Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. However, the demand for Koshal state did not find any support from the central government.