Passengers stranded across Jharkhand as Kurmi protest blocks rail routes

Ranchi: A 61-year-old woman, who was travelling to Pune to meet her ailing daughter, was among hundreds of stranded passengers at Ghatshila station in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district on Saturday as the Howrah-Pune Duronto Express was halted due to a rail blockade by members of the Kurmi community.

Defying prohibitory orders, the protesters are staging rail blockades at various stations in Jharkhand to demand inclusion of the Kurmi community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

"My daughter, who works in Pune, is unwell. I have to reach there anyhow as her two children are suffering. Railway officials are just giving assurances about train movements, but there is no information when it will start running," Maloti Ghosh, the stranded passenger, said.

Ghosh said she was unaware of any protests in the state.

"I request the protestors to please let the train go so that I can reach Pune and take care of my daughter and her children," she added.

Another woman, Shailaja Singh (56), said she was going to Raipur to visit her grandson who was admitted to a hospital.

A resident of Bhagalpur in Bihar, Singh had boarded the train from Kolkata due to lack of direct rail connectivity between Bhagalpur and Raipur.

"We are not the only ones suffering," she said, adding, "Thousands of passengers are stranded at different stations because of this protest." The protestors were seen sitting on tracks blocking train movements at Muri and Rai stations in Ranchi, Ghatshila in East Singhbhum, Parasnath in Giridih and Chandrpura in Bokaro district under the banner of Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS).

At Ranchi’s Muri station, the Tata–Patna Vande Bharat Express was stranded for hours before it was cancelled.

Forty-year-old Samir Das, en route to Gayaji to perform 'Pitru Tarpan' rituals on Sunday, was stuck at Muri station.

Das said he made all arrangements including booking a hotel at Gayaji.

"The train arrived at Muri station around 7.15am. Since then, it has been stranded due to the protest. I am now in a catch-22 situation as the train has been cancelled," he said.

Several passengers of the train created a ruckus at the station after it was announced that the train had been cancelled.

Bipin Bihari Dwivedi (65), a retired telecom employee, expressed his frustration.

"We had no prior information about such a large-scale protest. If the railways knew, why did they allow trains like Vande Bharat to run? It was urgent for me to reach Patna," he said.

Senior divisional commercial manager Suchi Singh said the Tata-Patna Vande Bharat express was cancelled at Muri station due to the protest.

"Alternative arrangements are being made to bring back the passengers to the originating station," Singh told PTI.

She said they made several efforts to ensure the train's movement, but protestors sat on the track.

According to a statement by the railways in the morning, train services in the jurisdiction of the South Eastern Railway (SER) and Dhanbad division of the East Central Railway (ECR) have been partially affected due to the agitation by Adivasi Kudmi Samaj.

"At least three trains, including Hatia-Barddhaman Memu and Tatanagar-Gua-Tatanagar Memu, have been cancelled, one has been short-terminated and four were controlled," it said.