FARMERS BLOCK MALLANWALA RAIL TRACK, 20 TRAINS AFFECTED

Vikram Ditya Sharma/Ferozepur

Hundreds of farmers belonging to the Kissan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) today staged a protest on the Mallanwala railway track, demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on crops, complete waiver of farmers’ and workers’ loans and compensation for flood losses.

The protest affected railway operations, with four trains cancelled, seven diverted, three short-terminated, four short-originated and two rescheduled.

The cancelled trains included Beas–Tarn Taran DMU (up and down) (74605 and 74606) and Ferozepur Cantt–Jalandhar City trains (74936 and 74937). Among the diverted trains were the Amritsar–New Jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express (14664), Amritsar–Jaynagar Shaheed Express (14674), Amritsar–Ajmer Express (19612) and New Delhi–Amritsar Shatabadi Express (12031).

The Ludhiana–Chhehrata DMU (64551) was short-terminated at Jandiala, New Delhi–Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab Express (12497) at Jalandhar and Ludhiana–Ferozepur DMU (54051) at Moga. Four trains were short-originated and two Ferozepur–Jalandhar DMU services (74936 and 74938) were rescheduled.

The disruption caused inconvenience to commuters travelling for work, medical treatment, education and other essential purposes. Kamal Mittal, a resident of the cantonment area travelling to Jalandhar, said he learnt at the station that his train would not operate due to the protest and he would now have to travel by bus.

Addressing the protesters, farmer leaders Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra, Dharam Singh Sidhu and Sarjit Singh Fauji said the organisation had earlier staged protests outside the offices of Deputy Commissioners across Punjab on August 31 and outside the residences of Punjab ministers since September 14.

The protesters demanded legal MSP guarantee, permanent ownership rights for cultivators, loan waiver, flood compensation, withdrawal of the land pooling policy and an end to forcible acquisition of agricultural land. They also sought withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2025, stopping of smart meter installation, release of pending sugarcane payments, action against drug traffickers and corruption, employment opportunities for youth and withdrawal of the proposed India-US trade agreement.

The protestors said that the dharna will not be lifted until their demands are met.