Dawn-to-Dusk Bandh in Padampur Demanding District Status

Padampur: Demanding district status for Padampur, the Zilla Gathan Kriyanusthan Committee observed a 12-hour bandh in Padampur area of Bargarh district of Odisha on Tuesday.

This bandh call affected normal life as shops, business establishments, offices, banks and educational institutions remained closed. Vehicular traffic was also affected. The emergency services were excluded from the ambit of the bandh.

The Padampur Zilla Gathan Kriyanusthan Committee alleged that despite the promise by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make Padampur a district by December of 2023 , the region is yet to get district status.

But it is to be noted that the main stumbling block in the path of Padampur becoming a district is that the Orissa High Court has restricted the state government to form new districts without the court’s permission.

Hearing a petition filed by Akshaya Kumar Mohanty, President of Rairangpur District Kriyanusthan Committee, a High Court bench comprising Justice BR Sarangi and Justice Murahari Sri Raman said, “This Court feels it necessary that the process of re-organization of district, which the State Government wants to undertake, may continue but no final order shall be passed without leave of this Court.”