Amritsar-Beas rail blockade still going strong 5 months later

By Kamaldeep Singh Brar | The Indian Express | Amritsar |

For almost five months now, a rail blockade by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has ensured that no trains ply between Amritsar and Beas. Even when there is no Rail Roko call by farmer unions, this blockade near Jandiala Guru for the past 149 days now has hit 60 per cent train traffic from the border town of Amritsar.

In fact, KMSC is the only farm union in Punjab that is continuing with its indefinite dharna on railway tracks, while the others ended their rail blockades in Punjab in the last week of November to focus on the Delhi Morcha.

“Our protest near the Jandiala Guru station will continue. Our dharna at Jandiala Guru had started on September 24 and it has completed 148 days. Soon, it will complete five months. We have no objection over goods trains. But we will not allow passenger trains,” said KMSC general secretary Swaran Singh Pandher. The dharna is near the Jandiala Guru station but not on the railway track.

Meanwhile, the Railways has been running some trains on alternative route via Tarn Taran. However, the blockade has prevented the Railways from running its operations on full-throttle from Amritsar station.

“Our 60 per cent business from Amritsar station is affected. Shatabadi and many other important trains are suspended for last five months. There are some trains which run from Ambala instead of Amritsar. But most of the trains are suspended. Our alternative route via Tarn Taran hasn’t got the capacity to take all the load for us to run all the trains,” said Sudhir Kumar, DMO, Ferozepur Range of the Railways.

Read full story, ‘60% train traffic from Amritsar hit for 5 months thanks to one farmer union’s indefinite dharna on tracks’ (The Indian Express, 20 Feb 2021), here.

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