Hundreds of residents, including women, took to streets in Bargarh town on Monday pressing for their demand of establishing a city hospital at the old District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) building here.
Holding banners and shouting slogans, the agitators congregated in front of the DHH building. Many shops and other business establishments remained closed during the stir that partially affected normal life. Vehicular movement was not affected.
Justifying their demand, the agitators said healthcare service in the town has gone for a toss after the DHH was sifted to its new campus at Tukurla, 10 km from here. The town residents are facing a lot of difficulties due to it.
They threatened that they would intensify their stir in coming days if their demand is not fulfilled at the earliest.
Local BJD MLA Debesh Acharya reached the spot and tried to pacify the agitators but in vain. He held a discussion on the issue with the district Collector, but it did not yield any result. Police personnel reached the site to take control of the situation till last reports came in.
Earlier on Saturday, the Congress had observed a 24-hour stir on the issue while the BJP staged a dharna demanding a city hospital in the town. Besides, locals had also staged road blockade on the day.