Rail blockades annoy vendors, passengers in Amritsar

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, February 24

Frequent rail traffic blockades not only hurt financial interests of vendors at the Amritsar railway station but also cause unnecessary inconveniences to daily passengers.

After nearly two-day long blockade the train movement resumed on the Amritsar-Pathankot section this morning. Vendors and daily passengers rued that it was not a rail blockade in isolation as another was held some days ago on the Amritsar-Delhi line besides many in the past.

Vendors rued that each of them pays a monthly rent between a minimum of Rs 15,000 to a maximum of Rs 20,000 to the railways and 18 per cent GST over it. Apart from this, their other standing expenditure include Rs 10.84 per unit commercial power tariff, salaries to sales man, maintenance charges and others.

Daily passengers complained of undue inconvenience as they had to travel in buses to reach their offices. Earlier, it was due to the Covid-induced lockdown and later, travel restrictions were imposed to ensure social distancing and then the farmers’ railway blockade took place which hit their income badly.