Chidambaram Hits Out at Centre’s Move to Cancel Passenger Trains to Run Coal Rakes

NEW DELHI: As numerous states continue to struggle with a severe coal shortage, senior Congressman P Chidambaram has criticized the government’s decision to cancel passenger trains in order to expedite coal rakes. 

Chidambaram said,

“There is an abundance of coal, a big rail network, and thermal plant capacity that is underutilized. Nonetheless, there is a significant power shortage. The Modi government cannot be criticized. This is a result of Congress’s 60-year rule! The government has discovered the ideal solution: cancel passenger trains and operate coal rakes!”

Further isolating the Centre on the subject, he stated,

“The Ministries of Coal, Railways, and Power are all competent. The fault is squarely on the shoulders of former Congress ministers in charge of the aforementioned departments! Modi Hai, Mumkin Hai.” 

The railways have cancelled 42 passenger trains to enable the flow of coal freight following a power crisis in several areas of the nation, causing difficulty to those travelling to and from coal-producing states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

The South East Central Railway (SECR), which serves coal-producing regions, has cancelled 34 passenger trains, while the Northern Railways (NR), which supplies coal to several northern power plants, has cancelled eight. 

According to the Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) daily coal-stock report, 56 of 165 thermal power plants have less than 10% coal remaining, and at least 26 have less than 5% remaining. Coal accounts for 70% of India’s electrical consumption. 

According to official data, some passenger services under the SECR, such as the Bilaspur-Bhopal train, which was suspended on March 28, will now remain suspended until May 3, while the MEMU between Gondia in Maharashtra and Jharsuguda in Odisha is cancelled from April 24 to May 23, and the Dongargarh-Raipur MEMU in Chhattisgarh is cancelled from April 11 to May 24. 

While the SECR cancelled 22 mail or express trains and 12 passenger trains, Northern Railways cancelled four mail or express trains and the same number of passenger trains.

Following the cancellations, the railways increased the average daily loading of coal rakes to more than 400, the highest level in five years, according to the statistics. 

Railway authorities reported that the national transporter has deployed 533 rakes for coal duty every day, 53 more than the previous year. Thursday saw the loading of 1.62 million tonnes of coal in 427 rakes. 

Edited By: Khushi Thakur

Published By: Bhavya Dedhia