Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers’ protest hits coal trains

At least 10 goods trains carrying coal to power plants were stuck, and nearly 25 passenger trains cancelled, as farm unions under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha held a nationwide rail roko agitation on Monday. Protesters squatted on railway tracks and hindered train movement to demand the immediate dismissal and arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra for his alleged involvement in the deaths of four farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh this month. “About 10 rakes were affected due to untimely rain and rail roko ,” Power Ministry officials told The Hindu . They noted that despite the blockage, 290 coal rakes were loaded on Monday in comparison to 279 on the previous day. This comes at a time when the country is on the verge of a power crisis, with some power plants holding critically low reserve stocks of coal and some States already experiencing partial load-shedding. Northern Zone worst hit Most rail disruptions were experienced in the Northern Zone, which saw about 150 locations affected by protests during the day. According to a Northern Railway spokesperson, the operations of 60 trains were affected and 25 short-haul passenger trains were cancelled. By 5 p.m., train services were resumed. In other parts of the country, protesters blocked train movement for less than an hour or were prevented from squatting on tracks and held their protests on platforms or in front of stations instead. According to the Press Trust of India, an Eastern Railway spokesperson said four trains in West Bengal were delayed for about an hour, while 12 trains were delayed for about half an hour in Odisha. According to farm unions, protesters blocked tracks at locations in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana. Protesters were detained at multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, an SKM statement said. There was heavy deployment of armed police personnel at a number of railway stations in Uttar Pradesh and several farmer leaders were also put under preventive house arrest, according to the All India Kisan Sabha. (With inputs from PTI)

The Hindu

2021-10-19

NEW DELHI