Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
The railway yard of Ishwardi Junction station, the largest of Western Railways, has been evacuated due to fear of vandalism. In this, the activities of the ever-busiest railway yard have come to a standstill. Since the British period, the north and south ends of the railyard were filled with carriages of passenger and freight trains. Carts of goods imported from different parts of the country and from India have also been removed. There is no busy loading and unloading of goods in Malgudam area. In the long yard there were old and new coaches as well as inactive coaches. About a hundred train coaches are always located at Ishwardi Yard. If additional coaches are required in the train, coach reserve and special trains are added from Ishwardi itself. That is why the huge yard is always full of train carriages.
To enforce the ongoing strike-blockade, petrol bombs were thrown at the Maitri Express, bombs were recovered from under the train and railway lines were set on fire at the railway gate. Last November 27 at around 8:30 pm when the coach was set on fire at Washfit, 11 seats were burnt. Due to repeated vandalism attempts, the Western Zone Railway Authority has evacuated train coaches at Ishwardi Railyard to ensure overall security and protect government assets. The Ishwardi coaches have been shifted to the newly established Rooppur station at Pakshi. Rooppur station has been surrounded by tight security.
As seen on Thursday, the north-south and east-west lines of the yard are empty. Superintendent of the station Mohiul Islam said, due to repeated vandalism, the MT coaches of passenger and freight trains have been removed and kept in Rooppur. No carriage shall be kept in the yard except for special needs and loading and unloading of goods.
A large number of passenger and freight coaches are seen standing at Rooppur station. All entrances to the station are barricaded. Barricaded dinghies tried to enter the station area and were blocked by railway security personnel by blowing whistles. They said, no entry can be made without the permission of the authorities. Strictly 12 hours they are doing duty of 6 people. The members of RNB, who did not disclose their names, said that there is no provision of allowance even if they do extra duty. As the newly constructed station is not operational yet, no shops are sitting there. They are in trouble as localities and shops are far away and it is not possible to skip duty. You can have tea-breakfast or food. After 12 hours of duty, one more hour goes back to eat. They are doing duty without eating for almost 14 hours straight. They alleged that while food was supplied to other law enforcement agencies on such duty during emergencies, the Railway Security Force personnel were getting nothing. There is no provision for tea and breakfast.
