Congress activists block rail track in West Bengal

Congress activists today blocked rail tracks near Sagardighi in Murshidabad district, where Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to attend a function.

Congress workers set up banners on the tracks and shouted slogans demanding a road overbridge at Behrampur and doubling of the lines from Plassey to Behrampore in the district.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee called off his scheduled visit to Sagardighi for attending the function after the helicopter in which he was to fly was stated to have developed a technical problem.

"We have raised these demands at various places. Our MP Adhir Chowdhury has also raised this in Parliament, but our appeals have fallen on deaf ears. So we are forced to organise the blockade to draw the attention of railway authorities," an agitator, under the banner of Behrampore Town Congress, said.

Train services in the Lalgola-Ranaghat section of Eastern Railways remained disrupted for nearly three hours as a result of the blockade.

The blockade was lifted around 9:30 am after senior railway officials assured the agitators that their demands would be looked into.

The Sagardighi function was to lay the foundation stone for track doubling work between Sagardighi and Nalhati Junction, Azimganj Jn and Manigram, and from Lalgola to Jiaganj in the district.