Chandigarh : Rail services in Punjab were severely hit on Monday after farmers led by BKU stopped trains at several places on New Delhi-Amritsar route to protest against tardy wheat procurement and demanded higher compensation for crops damaged due to inclement weather.
Rail authorities were forced to cancel some trains besides diverting a few and rescheduling one. “Railway section between Jalandhar and Amritsar was severely affected because of farmers’ agitation for the last several hours, causing great inconvenience to passengers including women and children,” Divisional Railway Manager of Ferozepur Division Anuj Prakash told PTI. “We had forewarned the state government about the farmers’ agitation,” Prakash said, adding that maintaining law and order was the job of state authorities.
Initially, farmers in small strength tried to disrupt the railway traffic in the morning but as the day progressed, the strength of protesters grew to more than thousand, affecting rail services, rail officials said.
