Rourkela: The ‘rail roko’ demonstration led by former MLA of Biramitrapur George Tirky under the aegis of Bisra Public Action Committee (BPAC) passed off peacefully Monday. The agitation was a complete success with not a single train being allowed to pass through the station here.
The agitation began at 6.00am with Tirkey and his supporters squatting on the tracks. As a resulted most of the trains scheduled to pass through Rourkela station were either terminated at Bisra or diverted. The agitators demanded that all trains stopping at Bisra should also get a halt at the Rourkela station.
Railway officials led by ACM Rourkela, Vineet Kumar held a discussion with Tirkey and others. The squatters relented only after Railway officials gave a written assurance that the demand will be looked into and a final decision on the matter will be taken within six weeks.
Later talking to mediapersons, Tirkey said that he had no expectations from the meeting. “Railway officials have told us that they will take a final call on the matter within six weeks. We will wait for that time frame and then decide on the next course of action. Today the agitation was peaceful. However, I can’t promise that in future the demonstrations will be peaceful,” Tirkey asserted.
Bishnu Mohanty, All India vice-president of CITU, who also joined the strike, demanded quick action from the Railways. “It is really unfortunate that the Railways have been sitting on this issue for such a long time. We support the strike and will also join in future agitations,” stated Mohanty.
Newly-appointed district president of BJD and former MLA Halu Mundari pointed out that the Railways must respect public sentiment. “This had been a very old demand raised by me. The Railways should act quickly on it,” Mundari stated.
Earlier, Tirkey had held three rounds of talks with the Railway authorities, but nothing happened regarding the stoppage of trains at Rourkela station,
PNN