Passengers suffer as 76 trains cancelled

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 10

The passengers at one of the largest junctions in the country are facing many problems as all the 76 trains that run to and fro from here have been cancelled for the third consecutive day due to the ongoing ‘rail roko’ agitation by many farmer unions in the state.

The city railway station wore a deserted look with no train coming and going, while there are still a few passengers waiting at the station for the farmer agitation to end so that train service can be resumed.

The disruption in the rail traffic for the last three days had an adverse impact on the business as good trains has been cancelled, which is causing loss of business to the trade and industry and loss of revenue to the railways. Even supply of coal to the three thermal plants and postal service in the district has also been affected due to this protest.

Station Superintendent Pardeep Sharma said all the 76 trains that run or pass through Bathinda have been cancelled and at present city railway station is lying defunct.

Dr Vitul Gupta, a social activist, said he had appealed to all the farmers unions to stop the rasa or rail roko protests because such protests causes harassment to thousands of people for none of their own faults, leads to mental and physical harassment, causes huge loss in terms of work hours, missing emergency deadlines, obstructing people to reach a hospitals, catch a bus, train or flight which they usually miss.

He also said that no doubt protest is the fundamental right of people, but holding common people who are supporting farmers cause, to ransom in the name of democratic right to protest, does not sounds good.

Harmeet Singh, a city resident, said passengers have been a harassed lot due to this agitation. He appealed that the state government should take incentive and resolve this issue at the earliest. He also stated that even the business has also been affected with the ongoing agitation.

He stated that he had booked his ticket to New Delhi as he had to attend some function there, but he had to cancel his trip as no train has been cancelled due to agitation.

Radhe Sham Bansal, a resident, said common man is been harassed without any fault. He added that instead of these farmers should take some other step against the state government. He said many persons who had to go to Jammu and other far off places have been struck at the railway station and have been waiting for the railway services to resume.

He also stated that with the protest, even vendors who earn their bread and butter on daily basis from the train passengers were also affected.

Another resident Parmod Jain, said the protest against the government is fine, but the harassment of public is uncalled for. The protesting unions should also think about the common public which is facing problem due to this.

Farmer leader Shingara Singh Mann said farmers in cotton belt have been highly affected due to the white fly attack on the crop. “We are demanding fair compensation for our loss as farmers have started committing suicides due to this untimely loss due to use of spurious sprays.”