On a day Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh protested the Centre's "step-motherly treatment" of continued suspension of goods trains in the state, Railways on Wednesday said it suffered over Rs 1,000 crore loss due to an ongoing protest in Punjab against the new farm laws.
"We are unable to run trains as protests are being held on tracks at 32 places in Punjab. Over 1,300 passenger trains have been cancelled or diverted due to the ongoing protest in Punjab against the new farm laws. As freight trains couldn't be run, Railways has suffered over Rs 1,000 crore loss. The situation is serious," Additional Director General D J Narain said on Wednesday.
"Narain added Union Minister Piyush Goyal has written to Punjab government, seeking assurance that tracks will be cleared for the Railways to run the trains.
"Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has written to the Punjab government, seeking reassurance that the tracks will be cleared and there will be no problem around it. Only then the Railways will be able to run the trains," Narain told .
"We don't want any major accidents. We have increased the speed of freight trains and it will be very difficult for pilots to stop the train if someone comes before it," he added.
Earlier in the day, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh led a protest of Congress ministers and MLAs from the state, at Jantar Mantar here, to protest the Centre's "step-motherly treatment" towards it, including continued suspension of Railway goods trains and non-payment of GST dues to the state.
Last month, Punjab passed a resolution, countering the recent farm laws brought by the Centre and passed four Bills.
The new laws are The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
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