38 Delhi-Amritsar trains cancelled as farmers protest on railway tracks

Farmers in Punjab have been protesting on rail tracks to demand loan waivers and payment for sugarcane crop with 15% interest among other issues.

Farmers block railway tracks during a protest organised under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) against the alleged anti-farmer policies of Punjab government | PTI photo

New Delhi: Thirty-eight trains remained cancelled on Wednesday with almost all trains running between Amritsar and Delhi being disrupted amid farmers protest in Punjab, railways said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Parmpal Singh, however, said in Amritsar that the agitation has been called off following an intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The trains which were cancelled include the Amritsar-New Delhi Express, Amritsar-Chandigarh Express, Haridwar-Amritsar Janshatabdi Express and the New Delhi-Jalandhar City InterCity Express.

As many as eight trains were short-terminated and 11 trains were diverted, officials said.

The farmers had been squatting on the rail tracks in Amritsar since March 4 in support of their demands, including full loan waiver, stopping auction of land and arrest of farmers, and payment for sugarcane crop with 15 per cent interest.

A petition seeking the removal of farmers protesting on the Amritsar-Delhi rail track was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday, with the court issuing notices to Punjab, Centre and leaders of farmers’ outfit Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to appear before it on Wednesday.

Punjab Advocate General Atul Nanda informed the court that about 85 trains had been cancelled or diverted, affecting about 85,000 passengers.