RailEnquiry

BOKARO: Hundreds of displaced persons under the banner of the All Jharkhand Students Union (Ajsu) Party stopped three goods trains meant for carrying mineral to the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) on Wednesday.The agitators stopped a goods train which was carrying coal to the BSL plant from Dhori mines, while two others were on way to Jamadoba and Dumetra for loading coal and iron ore respectively for the plant.The trains remained stranded for several hours at Haisabathu in Balidih and Ispat Nagar Station at Baidmara in Harla. However, no passenger trains have been affected as the Ajsu Party workers targeted the trains transporting raw materials or goods to the BSL, said B N Mandal, area railway manager, Bokaro.The agitation was led by Chandankyari MLA Umakant Rajak of the Ajsu and Ajay Singh demanding jobs and other benefits for displaced people of the area. The blockade was lifted after BSL general manager B K Thakur, Chas SDO Sanjay Singh, DSP (headquarters) P N Singh held talks with the agitators. The senior officials were forced by the agitators to sit on railway tracks for the talk. Around 9am, the demonstrators descended on the railway tracks holding banners, waving placards and party flags and forced goods trains to stop which were passing through the route. Rajak and Singh also sat on the tracks and refused to call off the agitation turning down the repeated pleas of the railway officers.Satish Kumar, the driver of the goods train carrying coal to the BSL plant, said as he reached near Haisabathu he saw hundreds of people sitting on tracks about 100 meters before the signal. As he came closer, the agitators started raising slogans and ran on the tracks towards the train. Fearing that they may get hit he stopped the train.Rajak said they had launched agitation as the BSL had neglected their demands. "We have asked the BSL to provide reservation to displaced persons in Grade IV jobs, increase compensation to land losers, return surplus land which were not used by the BSL, perform peripheral development of surrounding areas," he added.The MLA said the blockade was lifted on condition that the BSL and the administration had promised to hold talks on June 13. "If even after that our demands are not fulfilled, we will intensify our agitation," said Rajak.BSL chief of communication Sanjay Tiwari said blockade had not affected the plant work.