The Railways have recently categorically refuted the reports that the freight movement had been resumed in the state of Punjab and that 97 goods trains had arrived or departed on Wednesday. The power production has further dipped with the non-availability of coal at thermal plants due to the halted train services.

Northern Railway Ferozepur Division Additional Divisional Railway Manager Sukhwinder Singh said that the goods train traffic in the state remained suspended and no fresh decision in this regard had been taken yet. He further added that the discussions on resumption of goods train movement, which remains suspended due to farmers’ agitations, were continuing at various levels but no final decision had been taken. He asserted, “Railways, in any case, are prepared and the movement of goods trains would be resumed immediately as and when decided by the headquarters”.

As a result of non-plying of goods trains in the state for almost a month now, state officials said that Punjab is heading towards major power outage with its thermal power plants facing a deficiency of coal.

Most of the power plants have been left with Coal-stock of around two-four days because of the halting of train services due to the farmers’ protests. Coal stock of Nabha Thermal Plant at Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo Power Limited in Mansa has been completely exhausted as per statement given by A. Venu Prasad, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited chairman-cum-managing director. Currently, the plants are operating at a minimal capacity. The current requirement of electricity per day in the state is at 6,000 megawatts (MW) and it is largely met through purchase from the national grid.

The state-owned thermal plants in Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat have been shut. Consequently, the government is procuring electricity mostly from other state thermal units located in Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal.

The Punjab Chief Minister recently spoke to the Union Railway Minister in the light of the decision of the Railways to extend the ban on the movement of goods trains. The decision to discontinue the freight movement in Punjab, has negated the results of discussions, said the Chief Minister. He has further warned that the move to discontinue the train services may, in fact, further provoke the agitated farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws.

The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness