Angul, Oct. 28: Residents of Kishorenagar today stopped vehicles at Boinda and Bamur Chhak on the NH-55 for nearly five hours, demanding completion of an irrigation project and scrapping of a power plant in the region.

The strike crippled life at Athmallick town, Kishorenager block, Thakurgarh and other areas of Athmallick sub-division. Government offices, schools, colleges and shops remained closed.

The agitators called off the blockade around 11am keeping in mind the current natural calamities. “We did not block the track on Angul-Sambalpur line like on earlier occasions. We did not want to cause further trouble to people at a time when the cyclone and floods have already struck them. We also withdrew the roadblock after a few hours for that reason,” said local leader Manas Pal. The railway service on Angul-Sambalpur line was normal today.

“The bandh got over peacefully. We made no arrests. There was a mixed reaction at Athmallick. But almost all residents of Kishorenagar took to street to support the strike. We have intimated the protesters’ views to the government,” said Athmallick sub-collector Sudershan Sethi.

“In 2006, the then water resources minister, Mangala Kishan, laid the foundation stone of an irrigation project in the drought-prone area. It was called the Sureswari project named after the Sureswari rivulet. So many years lapsed since then, but the government didn’t take up any initiative to construct the project. Instead it forced upon us a power plant that would cause large-scale displacement and pollution we see at Talcher and elsewhere. We will not allow that plant here and we demand the irrigation project should start soon. Otherwise our agitation will intensify,” said Dinabandhu Pradhan, president of the Jiban Jibika Krushi Jami Surakhya Committee.