The Center will continue train services in Punjab just when barricades along railway tracks are cleared, railway board director and CEO VK Yadav said on Thursday, adding that the state government has guaranteed that all bars will be taken out by Friday.
Till Thursday night, 14 out of 32 bars had been taken out, Yadav said. A joint group of state government authorities and the chief general of the Railway Protection Force was inspecting the circumstance in the state, he said.
“We have been assured by the Punjab government that all blockades will be removed by Friday morning. 14 of 32 blockades have been removed on Thursday. We will resume all train services once the tracks come back in our control,” Yadav said at a press conference.
“We (railway ministry) only have two conditions for the state government; there should be no compromise on safety, and blockades should be removed. Our maintenance teams are ready, as soon as tracks are under rail control, we will run the trains,” he added.
Trains have been suspended in the state since September 24 because of the agitation over farm bills cleared by the Center during the monsoon session of Parliament.
The state is likewise confronting basic deficiency of coal stock across power plants prompting monstrous force slices because of the delayed suspension of merchandise trains by the railways.
In the midst of tussle between the Center and the state government over permitting the section of trains in the express, the Indian Railways has guaranteed misfortunes of almost Rs1,200 crore in cargo income with in excess of 2,225 products trains suspended and 1,350 traveler trains dropped or redirected.
As indicated by railways’ information, almost 70 trains are influenced every day, altogether 1,373 traveler trains have must be dropped or redirected, prompting misfortunes of Rs45 crore.
Prior in the day, railway serve Piyush Goyal met an appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Punjab looking for his intercession in continuing train services. In a letter to Goyal for the gathering, Ashwani Sharma, Punjab state leader of the BJP, asserted that the state is in a real sense “under siege” of the state government which is wading into controversy. HT has checked on the letter.
As per the Center, all internal and outward merchandise transportation, including fundamental wares, has unfavorably been influenced in the northern states and Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
“The minister assured [Punjab MPs] that Railways was ready to resume operations of the train service as soon as the state government ensures that it is fully safe to operate/ run the trains and that the tracks are fully cleared. Safety in running of trains is of Paramount importance. He further informed the MPs that officials of Railway Board have been in touch with officials of state government to seek early clearance of tracks and would continue to do the same,” the ministry said in a statement.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Buzz Illustrated journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.