The Hindu Business Line : With truckers reluctant to operate — Zonal rlys urged to move foodgrains to North-East

THE Railway Board has urged the zonal railways to accord priority to movement of foodgrains and essential commodities to the North-East in view of present uncertainty over truck movement to that region.

The Hindi-speaking truck drivers and cleaners are reluctant to take their vehicles to Guwahati and other parts of the north-eastern region, as a section of people in the region has unleashed a reign of terror on people hailing from Bihar. More than 50 people have lost their lives so far.

On an average, over 3,000 trucks a day carrying essential commodities move into the North-East through West Bengal border with Assam. Most of them are operated by Hindi-speaking people, not only from Bihar but also from other States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and other places. The movement of these vehicles has been badly as a sequel to the disturbance.

There are two interchange points, Malda in West Bengal and Katihar in Bihar, where the North Frontier Railway (NFR), the zonal railway for the entire North-East, exchanges the railway rakes coming to and from Eastern Railway (ER) and East Central Railway (ECR) respectively. ER and ECR each move on an average about seven to eight rakes of foodgrains and essential commodities every day through these interchange points. One rake contains about 2,200-2,400 tonnes. Since the NFR has capacity constraints, the foodgrains rakes often get detained on the route. Following the Railway Board's directive, all the three zonal railways will now ensure that such detentions do not take place, even if it means causing detention to other trains.

According to Railway sources, neither ER nor ECR is the loading railway for NFR's foodgrains traffic. The rakes, loaded in other regions, mostly northern region, pass through ER and ECR for the North-East.

However, the irregular truck movement has not yet generated any additional demand for railway rakes for the North-East, the sources add.

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