Another rail roko at Titwala delays trains by upto 50 minutes

TITWALA: Hundreds of people living in Indira Nagar slums near Titwala station staging a rail roko against the demolition of illegal structures by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), disrupting services between Kalyan and Kasara on the Central line on Thursday evening. The protest affected Up and Down services on the CST-Kasara route, with some commuters being stuck for around 50 minutes.
This was second time in a week when people staged a rail roko near Mumbai to protest against demolition of illegal slums. A mob had protested near Dombivli station to protest against demolition of slums on railway land on January 12.
Rajendra Rahalkar, an activist said, “The protestors should understand that with the rail roko, the illegal construction problem will not get solved. To get justice, they should protest before the civic body.”
Kalyan GRP officials said KDMC staff from the A ward office had visited the area to serve notices for demolition of slums on land reserved for an amusement park and civic staff quarters.
Locals gheraoed the civic staff, blaming them for the illegal constructions. Some protestors pelted stones on civic staff and later some gathered on the tracks from 3.15pm to 4.35pm, till Titwala police, Kalyan GRP and RPF personnel intervened.
CR spokesperson A K Singh said the incident had nothing to do with the railways but was a “spontaneous protest” by local slum-dwellers. He said, “The protestors blocked train services to oppose the razing of unauthorised constructions by KDMC. It affected the running of few long-distance trains, while at least six trains plying between Kalyan and Kasara were cancelled.”
Datta Pable, senior inspector of Kalyan GRP, said, “The process is on for filing of cases against protestors who participated in the rail roko.”
Ramesh Jadhav, a commuter, said, “It is sad that people unnecessarily target the Railways and make commuters suffer for mistakes by civic officials and corporators, who normally allow illegal constructions.”
Another commuter said, “The railways should take strict action against such protestors, or it will become a fashion to target the Railways on every issue.”