By BizOdisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 27, 2015 : Bandh may be a legitimate form of political protest against governmental inaction, or studied silence, or refusal to concede even the just demands of people. The economic loss caused and the hardship suffered by the common people during a bandh is too great to be ignored.

The loss due to Friday’s bandh organized by the opposition Congress against the gross irregularities in the ‘Brahma Parivartan’ rituals of the Lord Jagannath and His siblings is pegged at about Rs 1000 crore. It could be more or less, but it is clear that bandh leads to economic loss in all sectors.

“The bandh has affected manufacturing and services worth Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. The annual domestic production in the state is around Rs 5 lakh crore. However, a proportionate loss of Rs 1300 crore was not caused as business was a usual in some parts of the state.

Mohapatra said, taking into consideration In view of this, the estimated loss could be pegged around Rs 1000 crore,” according to the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Ramesh Chandra Mahapatra said.

The revenue loss of around Rs 800-Rs 1,000 crore can largely be attributed to the grinding halt in transport system. Railway services and movement of buses and trucks were completely paralysed.

The UUCI president further added that the bandh affected the banking services too. The bandh has resulted in a loss of Rs 30-Rs 40 crore in this sector, Mohapatra said.

More than 7000 bank branches across the state were closed. Customers could not avail banking services as they were not allowed to enter into the banks. Due to the day-long closure, clearings of cheques and other instruments worth Rs 10, 000 crore were held up

Normal life and businesses in the industrial hubs in the state—Rourkela, Angul, Paradip, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Talcher—came to a standstill.

Industry bodies estimate that over Rs 42 crore of petrol and diesel were unsold. Around 2000 kilo litres of petrol amounting to Rs 12.5 crore and 4930 kilo litres of diesel worth Rs 29.6 crore remained unsold across the state due to the shutdown.