Punjab farmers' 'rail roko' stir enters third day, train movement remains hit

The farmers have been blockading railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday

The 'rail roko' stir of Punjab farmers demanding compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a sweeping debt waiver entered its third day on Saturday.

The agitation has hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.

The farmers have been blockading railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their three-day agitation.

The protest has left hundreds of rail passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana.

A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there is no information on when it will arrive.

Another passenger at the station said the agitation forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar.

They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family was travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there is still no update about the train, he added.