MUMBAI, Aug 20 : The rail roko protest at Badlapur station in Thane district over the alleged sexual abuse of two girls at a school caused the diversion of 15 outstation trains and suspension of local train services on the Ambernath-Karjat section for ten hours, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
The resumption of services was allowed in the night after the Central Railway operated a light engine between Ambernath and Vangni stations to ensure track safety in view of the eviction of protesters by the police.
The first suburban train reached Badlapur station at 8:05 PM, almost 10 hours after the services were suspended, said Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of Central Railway.
“First Up local (Khopoli-CSMT) and Down local (CSMT-Karjat) both passed Badlapur at 8.05 pm,” Nila said.
After a gap of several hours, the first local train for Badlapur departed from CSMT in south Mumbai at around 7 pm.
Thousands of protesters on Tuesday blocked railway tracks at Badlapur station over the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls by the school sweeper in the washroom, leading to massive disruption of local train services and diversion of some long-distance trains.
Authorities arranged buses on the Kalyan and Karjat route as several commuters remained stranded at various stations due to the suspension and partial suspension of local train services.
A total of 15 mail-express trains, including Solapur-CSMT Vande Bharat Express, were diverted via Diva-Panvel-Karjat stations till 5 pm, said Nila.
He said 42 suburban trains between Ambernath and Karjat/ Khopoli remained partially cancelled till 9 PM.
The Railway sought the requisition of 100 extra buses from state and civic transport bodies for commuters between Kalyan and Karjat and received 55 buses, Nila said.
According to railway sources, Kolhapur-bound Koyna Express from Mumbai was held up four hours between Ambernath and Badlapur stations. Around 1 pm, the train was reversed and diverted via the Kalyan-Diva-Panvel-Karjat route.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) deployed additional personnel at stations on the Kalyan-Karjat section of Central Railway, he said.
Badlapur is one of the major railway stations in the Thane district on the main line of the Central Railway that operates more than 1,800 suburban services daily. Of those 894 trains operated on the main line.
Earlier in the day, some railway activists had appealed to protesters on social media to vacate tracks as lakhs of local train commuters faced hardships due to the suspension of suburban services beyond Ambernath station.
“Badlapurkar request! It is a very bad incident. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have taken serious notice of the matter. Please cooperate to start the train service!” a railway activist stated on the social media platform “X”.
According to Railway enthusiasts, this was one of the longest disruptions for civil reasons in recent years.
“This has been one of the longest public-enforced rail disruptions in recent memory, where protesters occupied rail tracks, stopped trains and staged a mega protest for nearly nine hours. Such a large disruption for a non-railway cause is unprecedented,” said journalist and railway observer Rajendra Aklekar.
A senior railways official said power supply to 25 KV overhead wires at Badlapur station was shut considering safety reasons amid rain at around 3 pm as some agitators were carrying banners and other longer objects in their hands. (PTI )
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