Kantabanji NAC office locked; chairman, councillors stage protest outside

Following a heated argument with the local Additional Collector over a dispute, Kantabanji notified area council (NAC) chairman and several councillors locked the office and staged a sit-in (Dharna) in front of its main gate in Bolangir district, on Thursday.

This triggered tension in the area and police forces were immediately deployed to bring the law and order situation under control. The people’s representatives continued their protest, which was underway till the time when this report was filed.

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According to sources, the dispute erupted yesterday as the chairman Bariyam Singh Saluja opposed the senior official for not inviting him and the councillors to ‘Jal Utsav’ programme held in Kantabanji civic limits. Later, chairman Saluja and others locked the office's main gate. However, the agitators got irked when they saw the lock to have been broken today in the presence of local police and the office open. They started agitating again.

“We will not let the NAC office run normally, so long as the ‘high-handedness’ of the Executive Officer (EO) does not stop. It is because, he (EO) neither respects anyone nor does any developmental work. Cleaning of the drains is not being carried out properly. As a result, all drains have become packed with litter and sewages. He is not looking into this. He even comes to the office and goes out at his sweet will. He does not have any inclination for either Kantabanji or its people,” the NAC chairman said mediapersons.

“Since people have elected us and we are accountable to them, they (local residents) are charging us for the pseudo-development,” the chairman further said.

Reacting to this and on being contacted, Kantabanji NAC EO Girija Shankar Mallik stated, “If anyone has any grievance, he can lodge his complaint in a proper forum. He can even exhibit his resentment to establish his democratic rights in a peaceful manner and there is no problem in it. However, he cannot shut down a government office, thereby denying access to the people. Acting on the directive of the district administration, we have opened the office.”