The Jharsuguda Chamber of Commerce in association with the Jharsuguda Bar Association, civil society and leaders of different political parties would be observing a 12- hour Jharsugada Bandh on July 19 (Thursday) and a four-hour Railroko against the alleged step-motherly treatment to Jharsugada by the Indian Railways.
Jharsuguda Chamber of Commerce president Hiralal lokchandani announced to this to the mediamen.
The key issue is that from July 24, Sambalpur Divisional Railway has abruptly routed the Delhi bound Visakhapatnam-Amritsar Hirakund Express from Jharsuguda junction to the Jharsuguda Road station which is devoid of proper accessibility and facilities.
Former Municipality Chairman TKR Choudhary said members of the civil society of Jharsuguda had apprised DRMs of Chakradharpur and Sambalpur Divisions about the issue and DRM of Chakradharpur division had assured them that until their concerns regarding the Jharsuguda Road station are not addressed, the train stoppage would continue at Jharsuguda Junction station.
However, on July 24, the Railways started rerouting of Hirakund Express which connects the industrial town to key cities from the Jharsuguda Road station.
Senior Citizens' Association president Arjun More said that even the basic development of the Jharsuguda road station has not been done so far and questioned the haste shown by the railway administration to route the Sambalpur-Bilaspur trains going through the Jharsuguda station.
He said, “With regard to the safety of the passengers, the Jharsuguda Road station has not been directly linked to the main road of the town. There is no provision of an RPF post, GRP station or any post office.In these circumstances, the efforts to reduce the importance of Jharsuguda Junction station by giving more importance to the Jharsuguda Road station will not be tolerated by the citizens.”
“If required, the flyover of the railway will be jammed in protest against the change of route of Hirakund Express. The various organisations, political parties and people of the city have been called upon to support the movement,” he added.
Jharsuguda Bar Association president Raghumani Patel said that despite being an industrial hub and major revenue generator for the State,Jharsuguda is meted out with step motherly treatment by the Railways.