ROURKELA: There has been no breakthrough in the Orind crisis. A new batch of agitators staged a road blockade on NH-23 here on Sunday. Those put behind the bars on Saturday night refused to have any food inside the Rourkela Special Jail.With the 224 arrested protestors, including their leader Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey, continue to refuse food, the Sundargarh administration has stepped up efforts to restore normalcy. Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal and ADM PC Pathi have held talks with them with a promise to redress their grievances. A medical team was also rushed to the jail with some of the protestors complaining of falling health. District Collector Rupa Roshan Sahu said, if required, intravenous treatment would be given to the protestors. The agitators were jailed on rejection of their bail petitions. Putting the administration in a fix, around 150 persons - mostly women, children and expectant mothers - from Sunday noon squatted on the NH at Lathikata. Commuters on the highway had to yet again face a harrowing time as they were compelled to travel nearly 70 km more through Gurundia. Earlier on Friday, police rounded up around 350 agitators after they disrupted traffic on the highway for 48 hours. Barring 224 of them, the rest were let off. Employees of Orind (now Shaswat International Ltd) have been seeking the State Government’s intervention to get their outstanding dues and restoration of production in the plant. The situation aggravated with the agitation in front of the labour office continuing for more than five months now.
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