Title - Unrelenting villagers continue rail roko

The rail roko agitation of villagers of Baharduluki under Kashipur block in Rayagada district continues to disrupt railway traffic between Rayagada and Koraput since Friday. Attempts of the Rayagada district administration and the local police to pacify the agitators has not been successful.

Station sought

The agitators are demanding establishment of a railway station near their village and stoppage of all trains passing through the route at this proposed station. On Saturday, Rayagada sub-collector P.K. Mishra, along with local police officers, had visited the area to hold discussions with the agitators. But the agitators sought the presence of railway authorities due to which the impasse continued.Till date, no action has been taken by the administration and the police to clear the railway track so that traffic could be resumed on this track.

Though the agitators are making this demand, it will not be easy for the railway authorities to bow down to the demand. A station named Raula exists at a distance of just 4 km from Baharduluki.

Trains cancelled

Several trains have either been cancelled or short terminated due to the agitation.

As per railway authorities, the Jagadalpur-Durg Express and the Koraput-Visakhapatnam DMU have been cancelled since the last three days. The Jagdalpur-Howrah Samaleswari Express, the Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur via Koraput Hirakhand Express has been short terminated from Rayagada. Similarly, the Koraput-Rourkela Express is being short terminated at Titilagarh.

Passengers who have booked tickets by these trains are returning their tickets at Koraput and Rayagada stations.