Record production in Rourkela Steel

ROURKELA: With hot metal production touching 1.78 million tonne, all time record and with 1.62 MT total saleable steel, the production of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has registered its best-ever annual performance since inception in all its major area s during last fiscal.

"RSP's products are acceptable in the market and therefore saleable steel despatches during the fiscal registered all time best figure of about 1.6 MT,"said a spokesperson of the RSP.

Significant growth was also achieved over 2004-05 in the production of products like plate mill plates (13 per cent), hot rolled plates (20 per cent), galvanised sheet (20 per cent), cold rolled coil (10 per cent) and a spiral wield pipes (76 per cent).

The steel plant registered the highest ever converter lining life of 3,300 heats in steel melting shop-II and 1,100 heats in steel melting shop-I. Lowest ever energy consumption of 8.48 G Cal per tonne of crude steel was also achieved during the year.

Specific water consumption and coke rate also came down by nearly six per cent and four per cent respectively during the fiscal, all these factors contributed to bring down cost of production.

Red letters land in capital

The state police have their task cut out after letters, purportedly sent by Maoists, landed at newspapers offices in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 27: Two leaflets threatening to avenge the death of Maoist “martyrs” and exhorting junior policemen to join the rebels landed in newspaper offices here today.

First, copies of a four-page unsigned leaflet from the CPI(Maoist) was delivered in newspaper offices and some homes in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Then, a letter from Sunil, state secretary (organisation) of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) landed on the desks of journalists this afternoon.

The leaflets have come three weeks after the Naxalites released two police officials, held hostage after the R. Udaygiri attack, asking them to leave the “oppressive police force”.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik initially denied that the government had received any leaflets from the Maoists. But home secretary Santosh Kumar said he has asked police to investigate the veracity of the twin documents.

Kumar said the contents of the leaflets were being scrutinised to confirm their source. The possibility of Maoists choosing urban centres in central Orissa as their base cannot be ruled out as a central intelligence report had earlier warned of the same, he added.

However, there is no reason to panic as precautionary measures have been taken, the official assured.

The chief minister said “precautionary measures have been taken at all vulnerable places across the state”.

To counter possible rebel attacks, 83 police stations and six jails in the Naxalite-affected areas of Malkangiri, Rayagada, Koraput, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Baripada would be fortified.

The leaflets, copies of which are available with The Telegraph, urged the people to “celebrate” the R. Udaygiri raid in Gajapati district and asked the police to join the struggle for “liberation”.

The unsigned appeal said the March 24 attack was orchestrated by the PLGA, which looted about two dozen self-loading rifles, one AK-47, grenade launcher, light machine gun, 9-mm pistol and .38 revolver each, two carbines and country guns each, 10 grenades and ammunition.

It also claimed that a couple of PLGA activists from Andhra Pradesh — Narayan Goud alias Suresh and Mohan alias Satish — were killed during the attack. The raid was part of its movement to set up a “new democratic set-up”, the Maoist leaflet stated.

“The police are not our target and we don’t intend to attack them either. At R. Udaygiri, we had urged the OSAP men to lay down their arms. Since they did not heed, we had to attack them,” said the leaflet, which also had a section on how the state had been targeting tribals.

The second piece of Maoist literature accused the police of having used guile to shoot three Naxalites while they were asleep at Validiha village under Riamal police station and looting Rs 2 lakh and a revolver from three PLGA members. It urged the masses to join the armed struggle.

Director of state intelligence and additional director-general of police Manmohan Praharaj said similar leaflets were distributed after a recent clash in Nayagarh’s Ranapur between villagers and tribals over a cashew plantation.

Admitting that manpower was a problem, Kumar said 915 constables and havildars would be recruited for deployment in the rebel-hit areas.

NO CHANGE IN CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKERS

The All India Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for March 2006 (base 2001-100) has remained stationary at 119 (one hundred and nineteen) points.

The Rise/Fall in index varied from centre to centre. In 19 centres, the index decreased ranging between 1 to 3 points and in 27 centres it remained constant whereas in 32 centres it recorded an increase of 1 point each in Nagpur, Angul Talcher, Jalpaiguri, Bhopal, Raniganj, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Agra, Amritsar, Yamunanagar, Kanpur, Jaipur, Sholapur, Monghyr, Jamalpur, Bhavnagar, Pune, Siliguri, Kolkata, Durgapur, Bokaro, Rourkela and Lucknow centres to two points each in Jharia, Goa, Mariani-Jorhat, Doom Dooma Tinsukia, Rangapara, Tezpur, Giridih, Himachal pradesh, Bhilari, Vadodara and Delhi centres when compared to the previous month.

During the month, Jharia, Goa, Mariani-Jorhat, Doom Dooma Tinsukia, Rangapara Tezpur, Giridh, Himachal Pradesh, Bhilai, Vadodara and Delhi centres experienced the maximum increase of 2 points each. In Jharia centre the rise is mainly due to increase in prices of Rice, Arhar Dal, Goat Meat, Fish Fresh, Vegetables and Fruits etc. whereas, in Goa centre this rise is mainly on account of increase in prices of Goat Meat, Fish Fresh, Snack Saltish etc. In case of Mariani- Jorhat centre the rise in index is mainly due to increase in the prices of Wheat Atta, Vegetables & Fruit items etc., in case of Doom Dooma Tinsukia centre this increase is the outcome of increase in the prices of Wheat Atta, Fish Fresh and Vegetable & Fruits. On the other hand, Salem centre experienced a decrease of 3 points mainly on account of decrease in the price of Rice, Pulses Vegetables & Fruits, Kerosene Oil etc.

The index in respect of six main centres for March 2006 stood at the following level:-

1. Ahemdabad 114 4. Delhi 119

2. Bangalore 121 5. Kolkata 116

3. Chennai 114 6. Mumbai 121

Sun TV to launch private FM station in Manipur

IMPHAL, Apr 24: Manipur is likely to have its first ever private FM station shortly. Sun TV is planning to start FM stations in 14 towns in the eastern region spread over 11 states including Imphal, an informed source from Kolkata said today.

The group has already acquired the licences to start FM stations in all the 14 towns of the region. It was in the process of signing the final agreement with Prashar Bharati.

According to the official source, Sun group was likely to start FM operation in Gangtok in Sikkim, Aizawl in Mizoram, Imphal in Manipur, Itanagar in Arunachal, Kohima in Nagaland, Shillong in Meghalaya, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Guwahati in Assam, Rourkela in Orissa, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, Agartala in Tripura, and Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

"We do not know when we could roll out FM in the east because that depends on other technicalities like studio and machineries," said a Sun TV official.

The group would invest Rs 233 crore for expansion of FM operations. The company has set aside Rs 183 crore for setting up studios and Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for pre operative expenses, it said.

After FM brands like Radio Mirchi of Times group and Red FM of India Today, the Maran family controlled Sun TV - one of the leading regional channel in southern India - is entering the FM market in eastern region with a splash, the source informed.

Sun TV hit the headlines for its attempt to enter the eastern Indian market by taking over RPG cable TV operations in Kolkata, which was later denied by the company.

The Sun group currently has three FM stations in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelvelli.

Sun submitted bids for licences in 84 cities through two subsidiaries called South Asia FM and Kal Radio.

"We have got 67 licences. Now the group will start FM operation in at least 46 of them. The agreement with Prashar Bharati will be signed by May," said the Sun group official.

Maran family controlled group would start the FM operation in east through South Asia FM. Kal FM mostly owns licenses in south and north India.

India Inc to cash in on their plans

Bank balance worth Rs 1 trillion utilised for expansion, diversification, acquisition.

India Inc is using cash and bank balance of over Rs 1,00,000 crore for expansion, diversification and acquisition.

According to Capitaline Plus data, 365 firms had cash worth Rs 1,00,000 crore as of March 2005. Announcements made by companies during 2005-06 reveal that all front line companies have drawn up their capital expenditure plans based on their cash pile.

Dr Reddy�s Labs, Ranbaxy Labs, Sun Pharma, Jubilant Organosys, Torrent Pharma, Dishman Pharma, Jet Airways, Satyam Computer, Maruti Udyog, VSNL, Tata Chemicals, Amtek Auto, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Aban Lloyd and Jain Irrigation have already used their war chest for acquisitions. Infosys Technologies, TCS, GSK Pharma and a few others, on the other hand, are using the cash to paying out hefty dividends.

Public sector undertakings such as Neyveli Lignite, Steel Authority of India, NTPC, GAIL, Bharat Heavy Electronics and National Aluminium Company are planning expansion and modernisation of their plants. In the private sector, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Power, Larsen & Toubro, Ashok Leyland, Jaiprakash Associates and many others are planning expansion by setting up new units in India and overseas. Dr Reddy�s went for a major overseas acquisition of German generic drug maker Betapharm for Rs 2,550 crore.

Notable among other pharmaceutical deals are Ranbaxy�s acquisition of Ethimed NV in Belgium and Romanian pharma company Terapia for $324 million and Sun Pharma�s acquisition of a stake in a Hungary-based pharmaceuticals company.

Among other overseas deals are Satyam Computer�s acquisition of Knowledge Dynamics Pte and Bharat Forge�s buyout of Imatra Kilsta AB and Federal Forge Inc, USA.

Tata Motors acquired 92.5 per cent of INCAT International Plc for Rs 380 crore. On the domestic turf, Jet Airways agreed to purchase Air Sahara at a consideration of Rs 2,217 crore. Apart from these, ONGC has sealed a deal for buying up Spic Petro for around Rs 1,200 crore.

Among major expansion plans are Tata Motors� proposal to invest Rs 2,500 crore in a plant in Uttaranchal to make its fast-selling light commercial vehicles.

GE Shipping has contracted to buy 110000 DWT Aframax crude carrier, estimated to cost around Rs 300 crore, and Tata Power is spending Rs 860 crore or a new 250 mw coal-based unit at Trombay thermal station.

Public sector steel giant SAIL has plans to invest Rs 800 crore in developing coal mine and another Rs 667 to revive Iisco and modernise Rourkela Steel.

RSP awarded ISO certificate

Rourkela: The personnel department of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has received the ISO 9001-2000 QMS certificate from Tuv India Limited.

The RSP's personnel department has become the second company in Steel Authority of India Limited to bag the accrediation.

S Talukdar, lead auditor of Tuv India, presented the certificate to RSP Executive Director (works) A K Bhandari here yesterday.

Racket in sale of babies unearthed

Rourkela, Apr 23: With the arrest of a person, the police has unearthed a racket in sale of babies and were on the look out for two women, including a social worker, involved in the crime.

Police said the matter came to light when a 20-year-old woman Subhanti Dandasena, whose husband deserted her while she was pregnant, gave birth to a baby on April 1 last. A week later the baby was found to be missing.

She reported the matter to the police who found that Subhanti's father had requested one Aanjalica Rout and Anthonia Minz, a social worker, to negotiate with a middleman Srinibas Patra for the sale of the baby.

The middleman was arrested yesterday and confessed to the crime, police said adding the two women are absconding.

Patra told the police that he had adopted the baby by making an affidavit with a notary and subsequently sold it to a Visakhapatnam-based businessmen Suresh Agarwal.

He was produced before a local court which remanded him to 14 days' judicial custody.

The police contacted the businessman and directed him to report at Rourkela with the baby.

Police to unite mother and baby

ROURKELA, April 21: In a quick turn of fate, a mother, who had lost her child only after six days of delivery, will get the baby back, thanks to the Rourkela Police.
Subanti Mahakud (20), a resident of Rajiv Colony, was married to Manoj Mahakud, in April last year. As their relationship soured, her husband left her after nine months into marriage.
The ailing woman was pregnant and her parents were unable to meet her medical expenses. But they could get her cured. But when the time for her delivery came nearer they were worried about how to meet delivery expenses.
Anjalika, a private midwife of Birajapalli, came forward to help her. Subanti delivered a boy on 9 April. After six days of the delivery, she found her baby missing.
The midwife, who consoled Subanti all the time, kept her confined to her home and did not allow her to go anywhere. It was only yesterday that she managed to escape from her confinement and informed Mr DS Kutte, the SP of Rourkela.
Mr Kutte appointed Mr S Satpathy, ASP of Rourkela as the investigating officer. Police investigation revealed a very different story. The girl’s father took away the child and deposited her with Global Village, an organisation devoted to take care of destitute children.
The reason he gave was that the child was underweight and sick.
He also pleaded that the family was not in a position to take care of the newborn. According to Mr Kutte, Global Agency found the child in a critical condition.
It was then shifted to the Sisu Seva Sadan in Cuttack. “But as the mother is searching for the baby frantically we are going to bring him back tomorrow,” he added.

Orissa ready with draft rehab policy

Bhubaneswar, April 18: Orissa has drafted a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy that seeks to lock half of the compensation money as stock in the company or industry that causes displacement.

The draft policy — it would become final after cabinet approval — envisages payment of 50 per cent of the compensation money in cash while the rest would be locked as scrips and can be liquidated after five years.

The plan, while hiking the compensation amount to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 37,500 per acre, aims to bring the landowner and industrialist to the negotiating table. The government does not have a direct role in the process of land acquisition. “The state will just be a facilitator in the process,” said a senior official of the revenue department.

Though the draft policy would be officially released on April 20, The Telegraph had an exclusive peek at the policy provisions.

Till Kalinga Nagar happened in January, the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and in some cases the revenue department used to acquire land for the interested industrialists.

Several NGOs and tribal leaders have panned the government for acting like a “land broker” for the industrialists. The R&R plan seeks to change all that.

Unlike earlier rehabilitation policies, the new plan says that no displacement can happen before the affected people are rehabilitated. “No physical displacement before resettlement,” reads the draft.

The industries would first have to house the displaced people in resettlement colonies featuring basic amenities like water, electricity, sanitation and healthcare and then seek to reclaim the land.

The families that do not wish to stay in the colonies will get 10 decimals of land in lieu of their lost home and hearth. They may also get additional agricultural land depending on the availability of the same. If irrigated land is available, the compensation would be 2.5 acres while the same for non-irrigated plots would be 5 acres.

The industries would also provide Rs 1 lakh to each displaced family to build homes irrespective of their status. Similarly, those wishing to build their homes in another district would get an additional Rs 25,000.

Another salient feature of the policy is job guarantee for at least one member of each undivided displaced family. This provision was not there in the earlier policies.

In the post-Kalinga Nagar scenario, the demand for jobs by the displaced has led to unrest in several industrial units, including Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited, Rourkela Steel Plant and Adhunik Metaliks. The displaced would get age relaxation of five years to gain entry to the company.

Encroachers of government land would be treated on a par with those having legal title to agricultural/homestead land in the new policy. Those dwelling in the forest areas would get compensation provided they have lived in the area prior to October 25, 1980, the cut-off date announced by Supreme Court.

The policy has also redefined family. All adult sons, unmarried daughters above 30, unmarried sons above 18, physically or mentally-challenged persons and widows would be treated as separate families while awarding compensation, but not for jobs.

The committee headed by industries minister and BJP leader Biswabhushan Harichandan finalised the draft policy after seven meetings spanning a period of three months.

It first met on January 12, 10 days after the Kalinga Nagar tragedy in which 13 tribals were killed. The meetings have been plagued by protests by the Congress and the displaced tribals.

Harichandan claimed that the committee has taken the views of all stakeholders and the state into consideration.

“We have also mulled the Centre’s model rehabilitation policy,” he said.

Rourkela plant goes hi-tech to clean city

ROURKELA, April 21: Rourkela Steel Plant has acquired a hi-tech equipment as part of its programme to keep the steel city clean and green. The equipment is meant for faster and better cleaning of roads and public places.
The equipment, which has been procured at a cost of about Rs 45 lakh, is mounted on the Ashok Leyland chassis.
This is for the first time that such an equipment has been procured by RSP and added to the fleet of its township maintenance. It has two side sweepers and a central sweeper.
The latter is three metres wide and its suction unit has a capacity of five cubic metres. The machine can run at the rate of around three metres per second, with vehiclular speed of 56 kmph.
Mr SS Mohanty, executive director, P&A, RSP, inaugurated the equipment on the Town Engineering premises this morning.

Lineman killed in freak accident

Jamshedpur, April 12: Had the telephone call to repair an electric line come a few minutes later, Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) lineman Haridwar Singh would be alive today. But fate had other plans.

About 9.30 pm yesterday, the power board employee and his family were about to leave their home to catch the 11.30 train to Rourkela when he received a call from his superior requesting him to attend to a faulty line.

Half-an-hour later the family received the message that the lineman had died of electrocution.

The family, who were going to Orissa to take part in the last rites ceremony of a relative, were planing to leave early to catch the train as they did not have confirmed tickets.

Kamini Kumari, daughter of the deceased, said her father had just returned home for the day at 5.30 pm when his supervisor J.P.N. Singh telephoned him requesting him to repair a snapped line near Kharkai River.

“After he left we got a call from my mother’s sister in Rourkela, who said that her father-in-law had expired. We immediately contacted the officer and requested him to inform my father that we had to leave to Rourkela and so he should return home as soon as possible.”

After Haridwar returned, the family packed their bags and were about to leave to the Tatanagar railway station in a few minutes when the supervisor called again, at 9.30 pm, and requested the linesman to repair an overhead jumper on Gauri Shankar Road before boarding the train.

“We kept on telling him to refuse the order as we were to leave for Rourkela. But he said it would hardly take a few minutes to repair the line,” said Kumari.

“After half-an-hour, a neighbour told us that while my father was repairing the jumper, someone switched the line on from the sub-station, and he was electrocuted on top of the pole.”

JSEB engineers blamed the supervisor for the death of the lineman. “If the line was switched on while the lineman was on top of the pole, the responsibility is on J.P.N. Singh,” said an engineer.

According to rules, they added, it is the responsibility of the officer (concerned) to ensure that the line in not live.

He has to wait for the confirmation from the lineman in question before supplying power to the line from the substation.

The utility board’s general manager P.R. Ranjan said he has constituted an inquiry panel, under the chairmanship of superintendent engineer Vinay Kumar, to look into the matter.

“While a lineman is repairing a snag on top of a pole, the line should not have been switched on. I have ordered an inquiry,” said the general manager.

“If there is a fault on the part of the officer — who asked the deceased to repair the line without keeping a watch on the operator at the substation — he will have to face departmental action,” Ranjan added.

Orissa town records 44.3 degrees Celsius

Bhubaneswar: The temperature in Orissa has crossed 40 degrees Celsius in a few places and Jharsuguda town recorded the highest at a scorching 44.3 degrees, met officials said Thursday.

According to the Bhubaneswar meteorological office, Jharsuguda town in the western district of Jharsuguda recorded the high temperature Wednesday, followed by 43.3 degrees recorded at Rourkela town in Sundargarh district.

Sambalpur and Keonjhar towns also recorded 40-plus temperatures.

State capital Bhubaneswar recorded 37.9 degrees, Paradeep 33 degrees and Puri 31 degrees Celsius, he said.

Orissa witnessed a severe heat wave in May 1998 in which over 2,000 people died. Titilagarh in Bolangir district recorded the state's highest ever temperature of 50.1 degrees Celsius in June 2003.

Kotak draws up big life insurance plans

Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited (KMOMLIL) is targeting 100 per cent growth in its first year premium income (FPI) in 2006-07.

"The company has posted more than 100 per cent growth in its FPI in 2005-06 at Rs 349 crore. We are expecting to maintain similar growth in 2006-07," said Subhasis Ghosh, vice-president, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited.

The total premium income for the year stood at Rs 640 crore, thereby registering annual growth of 40.96 per cent.

The company was expecting this figure to go upto Rs 1,100 crore in 2006-07, said Ghosh. The average premium size was around Rs 22,000, said Ghosh.

The claim ratio has remained significantly low for the company, noted Ghosh.

"There has been 650 claims made in the last five years with claim amount settled at Rs 10.34 crore," he said.

"We will be taking up our agents base to 25,000 this year from current figure of 12,000," said Ghosh.

At the same time, the company will be expanding its base to additional 24 locations, including three in the east, namely Jamshedpur, Tinsukia and Jorhat.

Currently, the company operates out of 43 cities, including two in east - Kolkata and Guwahati.

The company will be adopting 'cluster' approach for enhancing its market penetration.

"We will be adopting cluster approach and develop the market. Gujarat will be our prime focus as there are many cities in close proximity. It will be the followed by Punjab and Karnataka," he explained.

The company will also adopt the same approach in the eastern region.

"Our base in Jamshedpur will help us to develop the Ranchi and Rourkela market whereas Asansol base will help to cater to the Durgapur and Dhanbad market," Ghosh noted.

The company was expecting to launch around four to five new products with lower charges, he added.

Truck owners demand rollback of toll fee hike

JHARSUGUDA: Truck and tipper operators from industrial and mining belts met here on Wednesday under the aegis of Western Orissa Truck Owners� Federation to wage a fight against the abnormal road toll hike.

As per the newly promulgated directive of Works department, the Orissa Bridge and Construction, a government enterprise, has been authorised to collect Rs 200 from each truck for a trip.

It�s a 20-time hike with the earlier rate being Rs 20. At a meeting held here on Wednesday, tippers and truck owners from 11 associations of Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Rengali, Bandhbahal, Rajgangpur, Brajrajnagar, Balangir and Sundargarh decided to take shelter in the Orissa High Court.

It was resolved that on April 10, around 15,000 heavy vehicles under the federation banner would go off the road if the State Government fails to act upon their demand. There are five check gates between Sambalpur and Rourkela and each truck would have to pay Rs 1000 to cross these which is burdensome as each truck owner is already paying Rs 4,500 towards permits only.

Tension in Rourkela before Rajnath visit

ROURKELA: With barely 24 hours left for BJP President Rajnath Singh's 'Bharat Surakhsha Yatra' to roll into Rajgangpur, 40 km from here, tension prevails in the cement town over the district administration's decision not to allow the 'Jhanda Yatra (march with a flag)' on the occasion of Ramnavami.

The town observed a bandh on Friday called by the Central Akhada Committee to protest the administration's decision and refusal to grant permission to even a token procession on Thursday.

Business establishments and schools remained closed due to the bandh.

However, no report of any untoward incident was received from any part of the town till noon, official sources said.

Singh is scheduled to address a public meeting at Rajgangpur on Saturday and the district administration has beefed up security measures.

A total of 23 platoons of Orissa Special Armed Police, Grey Hound, Rapid Action Force and CRPF have been deployed in the town since Thursday.

Violence had erupted in the town over the 'Jhanda Yatra' two years ago in which two persons were killed.

Mob attacks CRPF men

ROURKELA, April 7: A mob beat up CRPF jawans at the Rajgangpur station last night. Nine CRPF jawans, who were posted in the Naxalite-prone district of Rahgada, were on their way to Bankura in West Bengal for election duty when the incident took place.
According to CRPF sources, the jawans objected to a family sitting in their berth as the security personnel were carrying loaded weapons and other sophisticated weaponry.
A woman of the group was, however, not ready to vacate the berth, while the man had an altercation with the jawans but things calmed down later.
But as soon as the train reached Rajgangpur, a mob of more than 100 people attacked the compartment and assaulted the jawans. And before fleeing the spot, the mob shoved one jawan and snatched his rifle which was recovered later today by the police.
When the mob showed no sign of retracting, the jawans fired 37 rounds in the air to disperse the people.
Police said there was a havildar in the compartment and he spoke to the family in Urdu, asking them politely to vacate the berth.
But the man allegedly misbehaved with the jawans. Police suspect that he had passed the message to his friends over mobile and managed to bring the mob to the station before the train arrived.
The other theory is that one of the CRPF jawans had forcefully removed the woman by holding her hand and this enraged the person traveling with them leading to the incident. The journey of the jawans was terminated at the Rourkela station and the local battalion took away the injured.
One of the jawans’ hands had been fractured, while others had bruises.

Rourkela wears desolate look

ROURKELA, April 7: The whole of Rajgangpur, the cement city of Orissa, wore a desolate look for the second day today as tension mounted over the Akhada procession issue during Ram Navami.
The tension is palpable in this small industrial town of Sundergarh district. The administration had earlier roped in 23 platoons of state police and later today, armed policemen from the Jharsuguda OSAP had been brought in to meet any eventuality. The whole town, where prohibitory orders were issued, is under the control of men in uniform.
There are more policemen than civilians on the road. All the shops, including small kiosks and other business establishments, have kept their shutters down fearing trouble.
All the 23 akhadas with their flags, and other religious items, are still squatting on the road due to the impasse between the organisers of the procession and the district administration.
The akhadas, who are there since yesterday, will not budge unless a favourable decision is forthcoming from the authorities.
And today, in a spontaneous move, over 1,000 persons staged a rail roko at the Rajgangpur station as they burnt logs and tyres on the track to stall rail traffic for over two hours.
During that time, there was no railway movement on the route.
At least 200 people besieged the Rajgangpur police station for over three hours. Police resorted to a mild lathicharge, in which over 40 people were injured, including 15 women.
Every year, akhada processions are taken out with religious fervour all over the city and this year was no different. But, this year, the district administration did not allow the display of traditional Hindu weapons during the procession.
As a result, the joint akhada committee, the Rajgangpur Akhada Samiti (RAS) held a meeting with the administration yesterday and finally 16 of them agreed to bring out a procession without any weapons.
Besides, they also agreed to change the route. No procession will be allowed to pass through minority community localities or places of worship.
The RSA agreed to all these conditions but pleaded that they should at least be allowed to carry five swords. The administration did not grant the request.
And this led to trouble and the procession was stopped midway.
A group of citizens wanted to talk to the collector on the issue, but she did not meet them, leading to an escalation of tension.