Bhubaneswar: The state bandh called by farmers’ outfit Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) in support of price, prestige and pension for cultivators evoked a partial response on Thursday.Bus services were affected in the city and other parts of Odisha but other vehicles such as auto-rickshaws, cars and motorcycles plied as usual.Rail services were not affected, but people were seen waiting till evening at the Baramunda bus stand to catch a bus to their destination.More than 200 farmers were detained in different places of the state for blocking roads and picketing. Malls and some shops downed shutters during the bandh. Government offices, schools and colleges, however, remained open.A total of 30 platoons of police were deployed in the twin city to keep order. Police made preventive arrests of people trying to block the roads at Master Canteen Square, Kalpana Square and Sikharchandi Chhak in Bhubaneswar.“Life in the twin city was completely normal,” said Satyajit Mohanty, twin city commissioner of police.The NKS has no presence in the western part of the state; thus, the bandh had more of an impact in the coastal districts than in western Odisha.Farmers were seen blocking roads and staging demonstrations in some places in Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Ganjam.Workers of BJP and Congress showed solidarity with the NKS and hit the streets in some places. Congress workers staged a demonstration in Berhampur, seeking price, prestige and pension for farmers.The BJP members, led by its Krushak Morcha general secretary Surath Biswal, staged a protest at Master Canteen here.Lawyers of the Orissa high court and the lower courts in Cuttack stayed away from work citing inconvenience caused by the bandh.High Court Bar Association secretary Satyabrata Mohanty said, “We resolved not to attend court on Thursday anticipating inconvenience. However, our absence should not be read as support for the bandh.”The bar associations in Cuttack that had resolved to remain absent from lower courts included the Criminal Courts Bar Association, the Civil Court Bar Association, the SAT Bar Association and the Board of Revenue Bar Association.Akshaya Kumar, national convener of the NKS, claimed the bandh was successful. “If the state government does not pay heed to our demands, we will intensify our movement,” he said. “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression but the government has tried to choke our voice more than once by stopping us from entering Bhubaneswar on December 14, 2016, on November 5, 2018, and on February 5 this year to stage demonstrations,” he further said.Agriculture minister Shashi Bhusan Behera said observing a bandh on the eve of the matric examinations was unfortunate. “This shutdown by farmers has caused agony to the board examinees. Moreover, it is saddening to see BJP and Congress supporting the bandh call,” he added.(With inputs from Lalmohan Patnaik in Cuttack)

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