Mumbai: At least 60 local train services on Western Railway (WR) were cancelled, while others were affected on Saturday morning, after people gathered on the tracks at Nalasopara to stage an impromptu protest over the Pulwama attack, in which 44 CRPF jawans were killed on February 14. As a result, there was no service to and from Virar for Churchgate from 8.30 am to around 2 pm. However, according to commuters, trains were running from Bhayandar to Churchgate at 40-60 minute intervals. No problem was reported from Borivli onwards.
WR officials said that from 8.30 am, some Virar residents, who had been preventing shops from opening in the area, began to spill on to the tracks. The foot overbridges were crowded, and anxious commuters bound for work were unsure how they would reach their offices upon witnessing the rail roko.
The protesters brought trains to a halt, shouting, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Pakistan Murdabad’. Morning peak hour services, especially those towards Churchgate, on the slow and fast lines were stalled. “We were trying to convince people to clear the tracks and allow trains to move. However, it took time,” said a WR official.WR said on its Twitter handle, “Several protesters have blocked the tracks at Nallasopara due to which train movement has been affected at Nallasopara and beyond. GRP, RPF are making efforts to convince the people and evacuate the tracks and normalise the train movement.
” Several trains from Vasai and Borivli were running late by 30 to 35 minutes. “The situation was brought under control and trains services were resumed by 11.40 am,” said Ravinder Bhakar, chief PRO, Western Railway. Inconvenienced commuters were irked by the protest. One of them said, “Today it has become a fashion in our country to protest. Anything happens anywhere, it is always the common man who must pay for it. Why are we waiting here at the platform for 30 minutes and there is no train in sight. If these protesters have the guts, they should go and shut down offices too. Why are they holding us to ransom?”
Another commuter wondered, “Why are these people protesting here, how is it going to help the families of the martyrs in any way? It is just a political game, nothing else. Instead of troubling citizens, why don’t they go to the border to fight?” Besides the rail roko, shops and commercial establishments in Virar also downed their shutters and a few Vasai civic buses were forced to halt at Virar, with protesters threatening to deflate the tyres of the buses if they proceeded further. Commuters tweeted their plight: @ManishHeda5 @WesternRly Train no 12989 standing at Palghar station and local station staff is unable to inform correct timing of starting of this train.
This train is delayed by more than 2 Hours.Two Churchgate-Dahanu morning trains have not reached Virar, while Virar-Dahanu shuttle trains will operate normally as the track is clear The 7.45 am Dahanu Churchgate local was stopped near Nalla Sopara and locals on the tracks forced us to get down from the train and so we closed all doors and windows. The miscreants pelted stones at the train and after a while, some of them managed to enter the coaches so we got down from the local and walked back.”
Lathicharge on protesters
Police had to resort to a lathicharge, to disperse the crowds on the railway tracks, after repeated requests asking the protesters to leave, failed. In the process, two policemen were also injured. A joint team of the Railway Police Force and the Government Railway Police was deployed at Nalasopara station, where protesters had gathered in large numbers.
