Indus Valley Times

By Amar Barik

Dhamra, Sept.29 : On the auspicious occasion of 81^st Saheed Diwas of the Rakta Tirtha ERAM, Adani Foundation, the CSR arm of Dhamra Port Company limited has deployed its Health Care Unit to provide the health care service to people and visitors who came from different corner of Bhadrak and Balalsore district to celebrate the day.

Located in the remotest pocket of Basudevpur block of Bhadrak District, ERAM is known as the second Jaliyanawala Bagh of India. During the Quit India Movement or Non-cooperation Movement, Eram was a secret place for Utkal Congress meetings.

On 28 September 1942 there was a huge gathering at ERAM to fight against British. Under the leadership of Kamala Prasad Kar a crowd of 5000 people gathered at Eram Melana ground in a peaceful way. Afraid of this gathering a police force from Basudebpur police station, led by DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty marched towards Eram. As like Jaliyanawala Bagh here, DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty acted as General Dyer and opened fire on the huge gathering at 6:30 PM, within few minutes 304 shots were discharged against the crowd. Since the field was bounded on three sides, therefore, no one was able to get escape from the field. Within some minutes 29 persons were dead on the spot and 56 were injured. For this incident, Eram is popularly known as Rakta Tirtha Eram (The Pilgrim of Blood).

As the part of protecting the National Heritage and memory of Saheed who had sacrificed their life for the freedom struggle and movement of India, Adani Foundation has been celebrating the Saheed Diwas with the District Administration and residents of ERAM since 2009. Deployed by the foundation, the Health Care Unit has extended its health care service to over 350 people.