Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, other passengers suffer
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Sept 29: As movement of trains remained disrupted for the second consecutive day today due to farmers’ agitation in Punjab, Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims among others passengers suffered a lot in reaching their destinations.
Several Jammu bound trains, as well as those originating from here or Katra, were either cancelled or diverted today with the result thousands of passengers and Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims could not reach their destinations.
Official sources told the Excelsior that around two dozen Jammu trains were cancelled or diverted today and these include 10 those trains, which were either bound to Shri Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) or originating from there.
As the protesting farmers are observing three-day ‘Rail- Roko’ agitation to press for their demands, sources confirmed that the Railway authorities in Jammu have so far decided to cancel four trains and divert the routes of four others on Saturday.
The trains, which will remain cancelled on Saturday, include Kalka Express from Katra to Kalka (14504), Duronto Express from Jammu to New Delhi (12266), Vande Bharat from New Delhi to Katra (22439) and Vande Bharat from Katra to New Delhi (22440).
Similarly, sources added, Gorakhpur Express from Jammu Tawi to Gorakhpur Junction (12588), Malwa Express from Katra to Indore (12920), Swaraj Express from Katra to Bandra in Mumbai (12472) will be diverted while Jat Adi from Jammu to Ahmedabad (19224), will be short-originated on Saturday.
Today on Friday, 13 Jammu trains were either diverted or short-terminated while 11 others were cancelled.
The trains, which were cancelled, included 22462 (from Katra to New Delhi), 12446 (from Katra to New Delhi), 14034 (from Katra to Delhi), 12413 ( from AII to Jammu), 12414 (from Jammu to AII), 12231 (from BSB to Jammu), 12238 (from Jammu to BSB), 14610 (from Katra to YNRK), 14609 (from YNRK to Katra) and 14503 (from Kalka to Katra).
Similarly, the Jammu trains that were diverted today because of the farmers agitation in Punjab, include 14662 ( Jammu to BME), 13152 ( Jammu to KOAA), 11078 (from Jammu to Pune), 16032 (from Katra to MAS), 18310 (from Jammu to BSP), 14611 (from CGT to Katra), 15654 ( from Jammu to Ghy), 12919 (from DADN to Katra), 12471 ( from BDTS to SVDK) and 18310 (from Jammu to SBP) while train number 12238 (from Jammu to BSP) was short-originated at Ldh and train number 19225( BGKT to Jammu) and train 19226 ( Jammu to BGKT) were short terminated at BTI.
As already reported, more than two dozen Jammu trains were either cancelled or diverted on Thursday also due to farmers’ agitation in Punjab.
Reports said that protesting farmers squatted on railway tracks today on second day of their three-day ‘Rail-Roko’ agitation and also blocked Chandigarh-Ambala-Delhi National Highway for seven hours. They squatted on the Amritsar-Delhi railway track in Devidas Pura while in Hoshiarpur, protesting farmers sat on dharna at the local railway station.
According to the Railway officials, 91 trains under the Ferozpur Division were cancelled, 48 short-terminated, five short-originated and 35 diverted. Total 179 passenger and 14 goods trains have been impacted. The Railways has opened helpdesks at station for passengers.
The protesting farmers are demanding a financial package for the flood-affected people in north India, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on all crops, and a debt waiver for them.
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