Labor Unions Bring Traffic to a Halt
Patna: Dec. 4, 2007
 Members of various trade unions including the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Bhartiya Khet Mazdoor Sangh, to press for their six-point demands including a check on rising prices of essential items, reforms in land laws, and a central fund for land workers, squatted on the railroad tracks at Patna Junction on Tuesday disrupting the traffic for nearly two hours.
The protestors, many of them women, blocked the tracks at Patna Junction and Banka Ghat as the railway police force looked the other way to avoid any sudden aggravation in the standoff.
Several prominent trains including Ananya Express and Shramjeevi Express were delayed for hours and other trains on the up line were said to be stranded at various railway stations.
After chanting anti-government slogans and promising to intensify their stir if their demands were not met soon, the protestors then left the tracks without any incident leaving thousands of traveling passengers angry and frustrated.
Protests were also held at Dak Bungalow crossing in Patna where agitators briefly clashed with the police. About half a dozen protestors were arrested and later released at their own cognizance.
|
