Rail roko, fog disrupt train services

Trains running through three stations in Adra division —Purulia -Kantadih, Madhukunda and Indrabil — Tatanagar station railway junction in Jharkhand and Purulia station railway junction were affected. Other affected districts included Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Purba Bardhaman.

Some trains such as the Rajdhani Express were delayed for several hours, affecting long-distance passengers as well as local commuters. State police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) were deployed at various stations.

“Around 100 trains were affected. A few trains were short-terminated, diverted or cancelled,” South Eastern Railway (SER) CPRO Sanjoy Ghosh told The Indian Express.

As per a Railways statement,Tatanagar Dhanbad Express, Bishnupur-Dhanbad-Bishnupur MEMU Passenger, Adra-Asansol MEMU Passenger Adra-Midnapore-Adra MEMU Passenger, Asansol-Tatanagar MEMU Passenger, Kharagpur-Hatia Passenger, Asansol-Adra MEMU Passenger Asansol-Bokaro Steel City MEMU Passenger and Adra-Asansol MEMU passenger trains were cancelled.

Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express was diverted via Chandil-Muri-Bokaro Steel City instead of Chandil-Purulia-Bokaro Steel City. Bhubaneswar New Delhi Rajdhani Express was diverted to Kharagpur-Tatanagar-Chandil-Muri-Bokaro Steel city instead of Kharagpur-Adra-Gomoh. The Shalimar-Adra Rajya Rani Express was terminated at Kharagpur. The service between Kharagpur-Adra-Kharagpur remained cancelled. Bokaro Steel City Asansol Express was short-terminated at Adra, and returned from Adra to Bokaro Steel City as a passenger special. The service between Adra-Asansol-Adra remained cancelled.

The Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act-2017 mandates four years of rigorous imprisonment or a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh, or both, for individuals and organisations forcing the religious conversion of a woman or minor, or a person belonging to SC/ST categories. In case of forced religious conversions of persons belonging to other categories, penalty would be three years of rigorous imprisonment or Rs 50,000 fine or both. Those seeking voluntary conversions would have to get permission from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) concerned.

Under new amendments in sections of the Jharkhand Right to fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013, social impact assessments would no longer be mandatory if land is acquired for public welfare projects such as schools, panchayat secretariats, Angawadi centres, irrigation, hospitals or waterways. However, in scheduled areas, consent of gram sabhas would be compulsory in tune with provisions of the Panchayati Raj Extension to Scheduled Areas Act.

The protesters alleged that the new land Bill will allow the government take away land forcibly in the name of development, and that the proposed anti-conversion Bill is meant to create divisions between tribal people.

Owing to dense fog in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and parts of West Bengal, a number of trains to and from northern parts of the country were delayed by an average of 10 hours, including the Howrah and Sealdah Rajdhani Express trains, Eastern Railway spokesperson R N Mahapatra told PTI.

“Due to delay in arrival of corresponding down trains, several trains have been rescheduled,” Mahapatra said.