A four- day-long agitation and railroko by a host of associations led by Kendujhar Yuva Parisad was called off after the rail authorities promised to consider their demands.
In a written statement, East Coast Railway DRM AK Singh assured Parisad secretary Baroda Prasanna Das that the Keonjhar-Bhubaneswar passenger train will run through Cuttack from December 31.
Since other demands like extension of train services and running of new trains in Keonjhar route cannot be taken at the DRM level, the matter will be put before the rail board committee for approval and consideration and the decision will be communicated to the Parisad soon, Singh assured.
A meeting between the rail authorities and representatives of different people’s forums was held in Keonjhar in presence of the top officials of the district administration where an amicable solution to the four-day- long deadlock emerged.
The rail blockade had paralyzed goods train traffic in Keonjhar route causing heavy revenue loss to the department. The East Coast Railway has now been able to resume passenger train services which too had been halted due to the strike. However, the Parisad has warned that the rail blockade would be staged again if the authorities did not take any favourable decision on the rest of the demands by December 31.
The agitators demanded running of Bhubaneswar- Keonjhar passenger on a daily basis instead of six days a week, running of Keonjhar-Bhubaneswar passenger via Cuttack, extension of Puri-Chakradharpur Express up to Tata Nagar, running of Tatanagar-Vizag train thrice a week and extension of Tata Nagar- Barbil train up to Bolani. Six organizations, including Kendujhar Progressive Citizens Forum, Keonjhar District Citizens Forum, Bar Association, Keonjhar District Journalists’ Association, Hoteliers’ Association and Keonjhar Businessmen Association etc had joined the stir.