West Bengal: Massive traffic snarls, 95 trains cancelled on Sunday as Kurmi agitation enters 5th day
Kolkata: Rail and road links connecting West Bengal to states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu have been disrupted for the past five days due to blockades by two Kurmi community organisations demanding Scheduled Tribe status, media reports said.
Due to the rail blockade, both long-distance and local passengers are facing difficulties.
These organisations are protesting for several demands, including the recognition of their community as a scheduled tribe, recognition of the 'Sarna' religion, and inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, reported India Today.
Kurmi organisations are on their fifth day of protests demanding a Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for their community.
The agitators have blocked railway tracks and roads in several parts of West Bengal, forcing the authorities to cancel nearly 500 long and short-distance trains over the past few days, said the report.
On Sunday, around 95 trains were cancelled due to the ongoing protests by Kurmi organisations on important sections of the South Eastern Railway.
Despite an emergency meeting held with administration heads on Saturday evening, there was no resolution to the deadlock.
The protests also resulted in hundreds of stranded vehicles on NH 6, leading to major traffic congestion on adjoining roads in Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram districts.
In a statement issued by South Easter Railway, it said, "Train services of South Eastern Railway have been partially affected due to ongoing agitation by a group of people at Kustaur Station in Adra Division and Khemasuli Station in Kharagpur Division from 05.04.2023 and proposed agitation at Kotshila station in Adra Division on 09.04.2023. However, the reasons of the agitations are not related to railways. As a result of the agitation, a total of 496 trains have been cancelled since 05.04.2023."
According to the India Today report, the cancelled trains are :
18478 Yog Nagari Rishikesh - Puri Express
18011 Howrah- Chakradharpur Express
18019 Jhargram-Dhanbad MEMU Express
18020 Dhanbad-Jhargram MEMU Express
22844 Patna-Bilaspur Express
18013 Howrah-Bokaro Steel City Express
12021 Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express
12022 Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express
12102 Howrah-LTT Express
12129 Pune –Howrah Azad Hind Express
12130 Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express
12261 Mumbai CSMT-Howrah Duranto Express
12801 Puri-New Delhi Express
12802 New Delhi-Puri Express
12809 Mumbai CSMT-Howrah Mail
12810 Howrah- Mumbai CSMT Mail
12813 Tatanagar –Howrah Steel Express
12814 Howrah -Tatanagar Steel Express
12819 Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar Express
12827 Howrah- Purulia Express
12828 Purulia -Howrah Express
12833 Ahmedabad -Howrah Express
12834 Howrah -Ahmedabad Express
12859 Mumbai CSMT- Howrah Gitanjali Express
12872 Titlagarh- Howrah Ispat Express
12875 Puri -Anand Vihar Express
12876 Anand Vihar -Puri Express
12883 Santragachi-Purulia Express
12884 Purulia- Howrah Express
13287 Durg -Rajendranagar Express
13288 Rajendranagar-Durg Express
13301 Dhanbad-Tatanagar Express
13302 Tatanagar- Dhanbad Express
13351 Dhanbad- Alappuzha Express
13352 Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express
13511 Asansol -Tatanagar Express
13512 Tatanagar- Asansol Express
18005 Howrah -Jagdalpur Express
18006 Jagdalpur- Howrah Express
180 12 Chakradharpur -Howrah Express
18014 Bokaro Steel City- Howrah Express
18019 Jhargram -Dhanbad MEMU Express
18020 Dhanbad-Jhargram MEMU Express
18029 LTT-Shalimar Express
18033 Howrah-Ghatsila Express
18034 Ghatsila-Howrah Express
18035 Kharagpur-Hatia Express
18036 Hatia -Kharagpur Express
18085 Kharagpur- Ranchi MEMU Express
18086 Ranchi -Kharagpur MEMU Express
18115 Gomoh- Chakradharpur MEMU Express
18116 Chakradharpur -Gomoh MEMU Express
18182 Thawe -Tatanagar Express
18183 Tatanagar- Danapur Express
18184 Danapur -Tatanagar Express
18615 Howrah- Hatia Express
18616 Hatia- Howrah Express
22861 Howrah- Kantabanji Express
28181 Tatanagar-Katihar Express
15028 Gorakhpur- Hatia Express
18623 Islampur- Hatia Express
13319 Dumka -Ranchi Express
13304 Ranchi -Dhanbad Express
02832 Bhubaneswar- Dhanbad Special
05672 Ranchi- Kamakhya Special
12365 Patna -Ranchi Jan Shatabdi Express
12366 Ranchi -Patna Jan Shatabdi Express
12817 Hatia -Anand Vihar Express
12869 Mumbai CSMT- Howrah Express
13320 Ranchi -Dumka Express
13403 Ranchi -Bhagalpur Express
13404 Bhagalpur-Ranchi Express
13503 Bardhaman- Hatia MEMU Express
13504 Hatia -Bardhaman MEMU Express
15027 Hatia -Gorakhpur Express
17006 Raxaul- Hyderabad Express
18010 Ajmer -Santragachi Express
18601 Tatanagar- Hatia Express
18602 Hatia -Tatanagar Express
18604 Godda-Ranchi Express
18619 Ranchi -Godda Express
18620 Godda -Ranchi Express
18621 Patna -Hatia Express
18622 Hatia -Patna Express
18624 Hatia- Islampur Express
18625 Purnia Court -Hatia Express
18626 Hatia -Purnia Court Express
18627 Howrah- Ranchi Express
18628 Ranchi- Howrah Express
18639 Ranchi -Ara Express
20818 New Delhi -Bhuneshwar Rajdhani Express
20972 Udaipur-Shalimar Express
22905 Okha -Shalimar Express
15028 Gorakhpur- Hatia Express
18106 Jainagar-Rourkela Express
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