Protest over truck terminal in Odisha

PARADIP: Hundreds of people under the banner of Anchalika Surakhya Samiti (ASS) on Tuesday staged a road blockade at Bhutmundei on Cuttack-Paradip State Highway demanding a super speciality hospital on land earmarked for a proposed modern truck terminal here.

ASS activists said residents of Kujang and Paradip have sacrificed their land and water for industrial development of the area. But, while local youths have been deprived of jobs in the industrial units, people continue to suffer from diseases owing to alarming rise in pollution. They accused the elected representatives from the area of being insensitive towards the plight of locals.

The agitators said a super speciality hospital and medical college should be set up on land meant for truck terminal at Bhutmundei. They said the truck terminal, once functional, will lead to further rise in pollution in the locality.