Ambala: Farmers’ agitation hits porters, shopkeepers

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, April 24

The ongoing farmers’ agitation at the Ambala-Sahnewal section has not only left the passengers stranded but also affected the porters and other people whose earnings depend on the passengers.

130 trains affected

Around 130 trains were affected on Wednesday due to cancellation, diversion, and short-termination under the Ambala Division due to the ongoing agitation

Efforts on to restore trains

We are in constant touch with the Punjab and Haryana Governments and keeping a close watch on the situation. The Division has been making all efforts to restore and operate maximum trains. Mandeep Singh Bhatia, DRM, Aambala

Porter Ram Kishore said, “Usually, I used to earn Rs 400-Rs 500 a day but now I hardly earn between Rs 100 and Rs 200 a day. Since a number of trains are running through diverted routes, the number of trains halting at the Ambala station has also decreased.”

Another railway porter, Happy Singh said, “Today I reached the railway station around 8 am and managed to get one passenger at 3.30 pm and earned Rs 100 so far. It has been eight days already and things are getting difficult now. The ongoing agitation has further hit our work. We earn on a daily basis and most of the railway porters don’t have any other means of livelihood.”

Chunni Lal, porters’ union leader, said, “There are 136 porters at the Ambala Cantonment railway station who work in two shifts. Amrapali Express, Swaraj Express, Mumbai-Amritsar Express (Dadar), and Garibrath Express are some of the key trains for the railway porters and we used to earn about Rs 500 to Rs 700 a day, but all these trains have been running on diverted routes. The government should resolve the matter at the earliest.”

Similarly, people engaged in selling tea and snacks are facing the brunt at the Kurukshetra junction. Monu, a snacks seller, said the daily sales had dropped to 25 per cent.