‘Rail roko’ agitation hits train movement in Chakradharpur division

Movement of several goods and passenger trains in Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railways (SER) was affected following agitation by the activists of Jharkhand Disom Pary (JDP) at Maluka railway station in West Singhbhum on Monday.

Several agitators squatted on the trains demanding recognition of Sarna ( tribals way of worshipping the nature) as religion during the ‘rail roko’ agitation which began at around 8.30 am and continued for over three hours till 11.45 am.

During the agitation, the South Bihar Express from Patna was delayed by six hours when it reached Tatanagar railway station. The scheduled arrival of the train at Tatanagar is 8.05 am wheras it reached at around 2.15 pm. The Tatanagar-Dhanbad Swarnarekha Express had to be cancelled due to non-arrival of the Dn train. The Dn train from Dhanbad was terminated at Purulia railway station because of the agitation.

The Tata-Chakradharpur Passenger train was also cancelled while the Jhargram-Chandrapura Passenger was detained for two hours in the Chakradharpur division. Movement of goods trains were also affected due to the agitation.

An official of Chakradharpur railway division said that Railway Protection Force ( RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and railway officials had soon rushed to the spot to prevent any untoward incident.

” The agitation was on non-railway issue.Train services were disrupted on both the Up and Dn lines as the agitators squatted on both tracks by putting up party flags,” said the official.

According to him, a similar agitation took place at Bahalda Road in Badampahar section of Chakradharpur division but it lasted for two hours from 8.30 am.

Chakradharpur is the highest revenue earning railway division in terms of freight in the country.

The Tatanagar station assumes importance in view because it is located on the Howrah-Mumbai main route. Several important trains travel via Tatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express and Duronto Express.

The station sees a daily traffic of 90 mail, express and passenger trains, besides a footfall of more than 60,000 passengers.

Courtesy: PNS