Jat stir: Haryana high court directs state govt to get tracks cleared

With the Jat agitation paralysing rail traffic in parts of north India, the Punjab and Haryana high court today directed the Haryana government to immediately get the rail tracks and other blockades cleared to restore normal movement of trains.

A division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi gave the order on a PIL filed by city-based NGO National Consumer Awareness Group Society.

Noting the inconvenience faced by the people due to blockade of rail tracks by Jats, the bench said there were other ways of agitating.

The government has been directed to immediately comply with today's order by communicating the same to the district magistrates, concerned police brass and others.

On Tuesday, the high court had directed the Haryana government to inform it by today about the steps taken to restore normal movement of trains.

The ongoing three-week long stir by Jats has badly affected rail traffic in north India, forcing Northern Railways to cancel several trains and divert routes of some others.

The Jats demanding quota for the community in government jobs under OBC category are squatting on railway tracks in many areas of Haryana.

Meanwhile, the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant, Khedar, Hisar has been closed due to disruption in the supply of coal.