A rail blockade by the Kurmi community in Jharkhand has led to the cancellation, diversion, and short-termination of over 100 passenger trains, leaving thousands stranded. The protesters are demanding Scheduled Tribe status and inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Constitution.
Two goods trains derailed in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharswan district, leading to the cancellation and diversion of several express and passenger trains.
The 22850 Secunderabad-Shalimar Weekly Express was passing through Nalpur station in Kharagpur Division when the coaches derailed, officials said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said.
More than 150 express/passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of the severe cyclonic storm, an SER official said.
The accident occurred at 3.45 AM near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway (SER), they said.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
Railways shunted out 5 top officials who are responsible for operations, signalling and safety.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
According to the latest data released by the two zones, the South Eastern Railway cancelled trains such as the Chennai-Howrah Mail, the Darbhanga-Kanniyakumari Express and the Kamakhya-LTT Express journey commencing on June 3.
The contents of the report could not be immediately ascertained.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
The CBI has seized the log book, relay panel and equipment, a railway official said.
The engine driver and the guard of the goods trains, however, escaped unhurt, the official added.
Another woman from Malda district said that her son was killed in the accident.
The incident occurred at the Santhaldih railway crossing, near the Bhojudih railway station, and the tractor got stuck between the railway track and the gate.
As many as 293 people were killed and over 1,200 injured in the triple train collision near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district on June 2.
While there has been no official confirmation, some sources said the CRS informed in its report that the accident occurred due to human error on the part of on-duty officials in the Signalling and Telecom Department as well as the Traffic Department.
Several trains under the purview of SER and ECoR were cancelled or diverted on Wednesday, including the premium Rajdhani Express and Vande Bharat Express, owing to the blockade by members of the Kurmi community in Jharkhand and Odisha, officials said.
The CRS has recommended that a drive should be launched to update the completion signalling wiring diagrams, other documents and lettering of signaling circuits at site.
The protest started at 6 am on Tuesday with the blockade of the old National Highway 6, which connects Kolkata to Mumbai, at Khemasuli in Kharagpur Local police station area by Kudmi Samaj West Bengal, they said.
The CBI has charged the accused under Indian Penal Code Section 304 part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 34 read with 201 (common cause read with destruction of evidence) and 153 of the Railways Act.
The order said that zonal railways should have by now assessed their vacancies and planned for filling them up as per their fresh selection calendars.
Tulsidas Balaram, who passed into the ages last week, was a member of the Indian football team which reached the semis at the Olympics and won an Asian Games gold medal.
Both were rescued from the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express that derailed near Bahanaga Bazar Station on June 2 that had claimed 275 lives and left around 1,200 injured.
A 12-year-old girl was killed after she came in contact with a dangling live wire that got torn during the squall in Botanical Garden area in Howrah city, the police said.
Three members of the same family survived the horrific train accident in Odisha's Balasore and returned to their home in West Bengal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday took into custody three railway personnel in connection with the June 2 Balasore train accident, making its first arrests in the case, officials said.
A rail track between Sonua and Lotapahar stations in West Singhbhum, under Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER), was damaged past Friday night in a blast that was allegedly triggered by the Maoists.
In a letter to general managers of all zones, the Railway Board has directed that a safety drive should be launched immediately with special focus on all 'goomties' (rooms along tracks) housing signalling equipment within station limits.
Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city's central business district, announced the state government will pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the blaze and government job to a kin of each victim.
In 2021, the Railways boasted of a historic feat -- no passenger deaths in train accidents in two years. However, the derailment of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express in 2022 brought the Railways back to its forgetful past.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday started its investigation into alleged criminal negligence leading to the Balasore train accident which claimed 278 lives after registering a first information report (FIR), officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Assam and West Bengal to lay the foundation stones of several projects.
They described the functioning of the interlocking system which prima facie seemed to have been part of the problem which led to the accident, in which at least 275 people were killed.
Balasore district hospital looked like a war zone with the injured lying on stretchers in the corridor and rooms bursting at its seams with extra beds propped up.
The train crash happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe.
Asian Games gold medallist and Olympian Tulsidas Balaram, part of Indian football's 'holy trinity' in the 1950s and 60s, passed away in Kolkata on Thursday after a prolonged illness, sources close to his family said.
Agitators squatted on railway tracks at various places, leading to cancellation, short-termination and diversion of several trains.
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