This Article is From Sep 25, 2022

Kurmis Lift Rail Blockade after 5 Days

The agitation, since September 20, led to cancellation of more than 250 express and passenger trains and queuing up of hundreds of goods vehicles on National Highway 6.

Kurmis Lift Rail Blockade after 5 Days

Kurmis had first taken to rail and road blockades in West on September 20.

Kolkata:

A rail blockade by Kurmis, demanding Scheduled Tribe status, at two stations in Adra and Kharagpur divisions in West Bengal was withdrawn on Sunday morning after five days, officials said.

The agitators also lifted their blockade on a national highway, they said.

The agitation, since September 20, led to cancellation of more than 250 express and passenger trains and queuing up of hundreds of goods vehicles on National Highway 6.

Train services in the Kharagpur and Adra divisions under the South Eastern Railway (SER) jurisdiction were restored following the lifting of the blockade at 7 am on Sunday, an SER official said.

A roadblock in Paschim Medinipur district's Khemasuli on National Highway 6, connecting Kolkata with Mumbai, along with the train tracks blockade, was lifted, a West Bengal government official said.

Hundreds of trucks and buses, which were stranded causing a traffic snarl stretching several kilometres, started moving after the agitation was lifted.

The 123-hour-long blockade at Kustaur (in Purulia district) and Khemasuli stations from 4 am on September 20 severely affected train services in Kharagpur and Adra divisions of SER, inconveniencing thousands of passengers every day, the railway official said.

Kurmis had first taken to rail and road blockades in West Bengal and neighbouring states on September 20, demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and inclusion of the Kurmali language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

In Jharkhand and Odisha, however, the blockade of railway tracks was lifted that very day itself, but the protest at the two stations of West Bengal continued.

After discussions among Kurmi leaders and government officials, protesters started moving away from Saturday night and cleared the tracks on Sunday morning.

Apart from the cancellation of around 295 mail or express and passenger trains since September 20 owing to the agitation, 90 others were short terminated, and 105 were diverted to other routes, the railway official said.

"Moreover, 150 goods trains suffered loading loss and 175 got detained at different stations," he said.

Many trains have been restored to their original routes, a few were cancelled for Sunday and Monday for operational reasons, he said.

The SER official said that the Shalimar-LTT (Mumbai) Express was cancelled for Sunday, while the Howrah-Chakradharpur-Bokaro Steel City Express will not run on Monday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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