Blockades hit rail and road traffic

Protesters on NH34 at Karandighi in North Dinajpur on Monday. Picture by Kousik Sen

KOUSIK SEN, TT, Jan 08, 2018, Raiganj: Rail and road connectivity in north Bengal was affected for half of the day on Monday as supporters of the Adivas Sengal Abhiyan and the Jharkhand Disham Party raised blockades on tracks and on national and state highways to protest the land acquisition bill and the anti-conversion bills of the Jharkhand government.

The agitators, sources said, raised blockades at Adina (Malda), Dalkhola (North Dinajpur), Arariya (Bihar) and Buniyadpur (South Dinajpur), leading to cancellation and regulation of 30 trains, including the New Delhi bound Rajdhani Express.

The other trains include Brahmaputra Mail, Padatik Express, Uttarbanga Express, Darjeeling Mail, Saraighat Express and the Shatabdi Express.

Since morning, supporters of the party squatted on the rail tracks. They also staged blockades at Kanki on NH31 and Gajole and Karandighi on NH34.

"The bills which the Jharkhand government intend to pass are against the interests of tribals. That is why we had called a 12-hour all-India strike and resorted to protests and demonstrations," said a tribal leader in Karandighi.

Policemen had rushed to the spots but could not manage to persuade the protesters to withdraw the blockade.

In most locations, the blockades were withdrawn only at 6pm, that is after the 12-hour strike.

"We have heard about the halt in train movement... but it has nothing to do with us but with the Jharkhand government," chief minister Mamata Banerjee said while speaking at the inauguration of Uttarbanga Utsav in Siliguri.

Altogether 14 trains were cancelled and four trains, including Delhi bound Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, were diverted following a blockade of tracks by the Jharkhand Disham Party in Purulia.

The track blockade by the party at Madhukunda, Indrabil and Kantadihi stations in Adra division in Purulia since 6am was part of a 12-hour bandh called by the party.

The blockade prompted the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express to be detained at Jhantipahari station in Bankura since 6.20am. Several other trains were also stalled in different stations in Purulia and Bankura districts. Later the railway authority sent back Rajdhani Express to Kharagpur and rerouted it through Bokaro.

The railway authority also arranged a special train for 17 passengers who were supposed to board the train from Adra. The passengers were taken to Bokaro to catch Rajdhani from there.

"We have arranged a special train for the passengers who were supposed to board Rajdhani from Adra station. They were taken to Bokaro so that they could board the train from there. We had no other alternative," said KS Anand, senior divisional commercial manager, Adra division. The blockade was withdrawn around 1.30pm.