Railways incur heavy losses as Gurjar deadlock persists

STANDSTILL: Northern Railways alone has faced a setback of Rs 6.5 crore due to Gurjar violence.

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New Delhi: In their ongoing stir for Scheduled Tribe status, Gurjar leaders on Saturday rejected government's offer for talks in Jaipur. They conveyed that they would hold dialogue with government intermediaries only in Bayana village of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district.

The Centre has told the Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje that the state is constitutionally empowered to grant denotified or nomadic tribe status to the Gurjar community.

But even as the stalemate continues, life is slowly returning to normal in the affected districts. The bodies of 20 protestors were cremated at Sikandra on Saturday. Rail routes through the state too have been reopened to traffic. Train services however are yet to fully normalise.

The violence in the state has not only caused huge damage to trade and industry, but Railways too has already incurred big losses with Northern Railways alone facing a setback of Rs 6.5 crore.

It's been over two weeks since the Gurjars first disrupted road and rail traffic in the state but there's still no respite for the travellers.

For most passengers, the experience has become nothing less than a nightmare with the train delay time being as high as 12 hours. They say they aren’t being given correct information by the railway authorities.

“We've not been able to get on the train. We weren't told the correct time and now we're not even being refunded,” complains a disgruntled passenger Sonika Verma, who along with her husband waited 12 hours to board a train to Kota to meet their son.

In the northwestern region, not only have trains to Rajasthan been stalled, the ones going to Maharashtra and Gujarat too have been cancelled.

Major trains like Kota Jan Shatabdi, Gujrat Sampark Kranti, August Kranti Rajdhani, Mewar Express, Mumbai Janta Express and Dehradoon-Mumbai Express have been stalled since May 24.

Other trains like Mumbai Rajdhani, Paschim Express, Frontier Mail and Punjab Mail have been forced to change their route. These trains are now taking the Agra-Bhopal route in order to avoid Kota.

The Northern Railway, which is the worst affected, has suffered huge losses due to the cancellations.

“Due to the cancellation of trains and money that had to be returned, as of day before yesterday, we have suffered a loss of Rs 6.5 crore,” says PRO Northern Railways Rajiv Saxena.