ST buses cancelled: Commuters protest on railway tracks

THE PROTESTERS WERE SEEKING PERMISSION FROM WR TO TRAVEL BY LOCAL TRAINS

MUMBAI/PALGHAR: At least 200 commuters staged a protest on the Nalasopara railway tracks on Wednesday morning, after the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) temporarily stopped the operation of buses from the depot. Local train services on the Western Railway (WR) line were hit for at least 20 minutes. MSRTC said the buses were stopped on instructions from the police, after noticing a sudden rise in the number of commuters. The passengers wanted to travel in the buses, despite not being from essential services. Social distancing rules, too, were being flouted, according to MSRTC officials.

Demanding permission to travel by local trains, the passengers headed to platform no. 1 of the Nalasopara railway station and blocked the railway tracks at 8.25am.

A Virar-bound local train had to halt at the station for a few minutes. Local train services resumed at 8.45am.

“MSRTC operates 100 to 150odd buses to Mumbai and Thane from the Nalasopara bus depot. However, on Wednesday, no bus services were available. Agitated

passengers later came to the railway station, asking the railway authorities to permit them to travel by local trains,” said an eyewitness, on condition of anonymity.

“The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) counselled the protesters, and the situation normalised by 8.45am,” said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer, WR.

RPF has registered a case against unknown persons under section 147 (entering any part of a railway without lawful authority), 145 (interfering with any amenity provided by the railway administration), and 174 (tampering, disconnecting hose pipe, signal gear) of the Railway Act, 1989.

GRP has also filed charges of disobedience and spread of infection under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Later, MSRTC services resumed and extra buses were operated to clear the crowd.