Even though the agitation by the members of the Kurmi community was withdrawn from Kustaur and Khemasuli Stations, it did not bring much relief to the railway operations under the South Eastern Railway that have gone haywire since 5 April in the wake of the protests.

Members of the Kurmi community have been blocking the rail lines since last week. The protesters have been staging an agitation on the tracks, and sleeping on them braving the heat wave-like weather.

Following the widespread protests by members of the Kurmi communities at two stations including Kustaur Station in Adra Division and Khemasuli Station in Kharagpur Division, railway connectivity has been severely affected as numerous trains have been cancelled since the first day of the protest. The zonal railway is said to have sent a letter to the state government on the issue.

As the Kurmi agitation entered into fifth day, rail connectivity under the SER remained disrupted, with the rail and road blockade resulting in the cancellation of around 500 trains till this evening from 5 April. After four days of rail connectivity almost coming to a standstill, the agitation at Kustaur station was lifted at 11.45 a.m. today. Later in the late evening the agitation was lifted at Khemasuli Station also.

However, the withdrawal failed to bring much relief. While hundreds of trains remained cancelled, services of Dumka-Ranchi Express, Godda-Ranchi Express and Bhagalpur-Ranchi Express that are scheduled to commence journeys tomorrow, were restored on a diverted route via ChandrapuraBarkakana-Muri.

According to the CPRO of the SER, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, however, sections between Tata and Kharagpur to Mumbai continue to be disrupted.

“The withdrawal of agitation has taken place in Adra and Chandil and this could enable operations of a few trains. But the routes like Ranchi, Bokaro and Dhanbad that were free for train movement till yesterday, were disrupted today following fresh agitations at Kotshila today,” informed Mr Chaudhary.

“Due to the agitation, it would not be possible to operate trains like Jan Shatabdi and Ranchi Shatabdi. We are working out to see if some trains could be operated on alternative routes,” he added.