NDA WILL COST DEARLY IN THE ELECTION FOR TAKING AWAY THE RIGHTS OF BHOJPUR

NDA WILL COST DEARLY IN THE ELECTION FOR TAKING AWAY THE RIGHTS OF BHOJPUR

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RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA---------------------------Before the Bihar assembly elections, the Railway Ministry has approved the stoppage of 36 new trains at various stations in Bihar. But the entire Shahabad region including Bhojpur has been kept out of this list. The biggest controversy is about the 12309/10 Patna–New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani Express. Despite the years-old demand of the passengers, the railway has approved its stoppage at Danapur, ignoring Ara Junction.

Passengers say that 12423/24 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express already has a stoppage at Danapur. Now two stoppages have been given within just 10 kilometers, while Ara Junction—which is among the top 10 revenue-generating stations of East Central Railway—is being repeatedly ignored. Local passengers Roshan Kumar and Utkarsh Ranjan said that the railway rejects the demand for Ara every time citing rules, while breaking the same rules, new stoppages are being made in Danapur continuously.

Experts say that whatever criteria the railway board has set for the stoppage of premium trains like Rajdhani—such as station's income, population, district headquarters status and historical importance—Ara junction meets all those criteria. On an average, a stoppage brings an income of 16 to 22 thousand rupees to the railway, which is possible at Ara junction.

Apart from the 7 assembly seats of Bhojpur district, thousands of passengers from districts like Sasaram, Chhapra, Buxar and Ballia travel through Ara junction every day. Despite this, there is deep resentment among the passengers due to the non-fulfillment of the demand for Ara. Passengers say that the current MP Sudama Prasad and MLA Amarendra Pratap Singh have not yet taken any concrete initiative on this issue with the railway minister. The result is that Shahabad region is once again a victim of railway neglect.