Team News Riveting
Raipur, April 24
Chhattisgarh and Indian Railways are heading for a clash over the cancellation of 23 passenger trains chugging through the state.
The South-East Central Railway (SECR), which has headquarters in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, cancelled the operations of 23 express and local trains passing through the state for the next one month. The order comes into effect from today.
Citing inconvenience to the commuters, the Chhattisgarh government raised strong protest against the Railways decision. Earlier, it had announced to terminate the operation of 10 trains on technical ground.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel intervened in the matter and took strong exception over the decision of SECR. He even drew the attention of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw but in vain.
Now, Chhattisgarh’s Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Subrat Sahoo has written a letter to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Railway Board urging restore the operation of local trains passing through Chhattisgarh. He referred to an earlier communication that raised concern over the cancellation of 10 trains; of which eight had been the lifeline of daily commuters in the state.
The Railways allegedly did not pay any heed to the state government’s request.
The state government has however hinted stringent action if the Railways fails to take any action. Senior Minister Jaisingh Agrawal has threatened strong protest against the Railways from Korba to Bilaspur—the section mainly used for evacuation coal and generating highest revenue for the division.
