Baghel urges Railway Minister to ensure restoration of cancelled local trains
Apr 09, 2022
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], April 10 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take immediate cognizance of the decision to cancel 10 passenger trains for one month and ensure restoration of the trains.
"There is a limit to everything. After selling the railway station, now ten passenger trains have been cancelled for a month, ignoring the suffering of the public, just to earn profit.
@RailMinIndia take immediate cognizance of this anti-people decision and restore trains," Baghel tweeted.
It is worth mentioning that before this, on the instructions of Chief Minister Baghel, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Chhattisgarh Government has written a letter to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Board, on April 5 to continue the operation of local trains passing through the state.
Drawing the attention of the Chairman of the Railway Board towards the problems being faced by the citizens of Chhattisgarh due to the closure of the operation of eight local trains passing through Chhattisgarh, he has requested to continue the operation of the trains.
In the letter, Additional Chief Secretary Subrat Sahoo has written that the operation of ten local trains has been stopped for one month through an order issued by the Principal Chief Operations Manager, South-East Central Railway, Bilaspur on March 31 this year.
Out of these, a total of eight trains pass daily via different rail routes in Chhattisgarh. No alternative arrangement has been made before the closure of these trains, the letter read.
The Additional Chief Secretary has stated that Chaitra Navratri is going on and a large number of devotees from across the country and the state continue to visit the temples and shrines in Chhattisgarh for 'Devi Darshan'.
The rail route is convenient and one of the most important mediums to reach these places. In such a situation, due to the closure of eight such trains in the state of Chhattisgarh, devotees and common citizens are facing huge difficulties in reaching their destination, Baghel added.
He has also written that a major chunk of the passengers in the state belongs to the middle and lower class, who reach their destination every day while travelling by the above eight trains.
Due to the closure of local trains, a large number of common people and students are facing difficulties in their everyday travel. Stopping the operation of trains also has an adverse effect on the journeys made during the summer vacations, the letter further read.
Keeping in view the aforementioned conditions, the Additional Chief Secretary has urged the Chairman of the Railway Board to cancel the order issued by Principal Chief Operations Manager, South-East Central Railway, Bilaspur, issued on March 31, 2022, with immediate effect.
It has also been requested to direct the railways to restore the operations of trains passing through Chhattisgarh.