A delegation of former employees of the Sindri Fertiliser Factory on Wednesday met the Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Dhanbad Division, Ashish Kumar Jha, demanding immediate resumption of local train service.

Led by former public relation officer of the factory Sewa Singh, the delegation said they were facing unprecedented transport crisis since over a month due to the withdrawal of the local train services from the Sindri town to Dhanbad, which are 30 kilometers apart.

The group, comprising former accounts officer of the factory G. Wheeler and three other employees -- DN Singh, Uma Shankar Singh and RC Prasad -- explained in detail the difficulties faced by more than five lakh residents of Sindri and adjoining areas due to disruption of train services.

After hearing the problems, Jha assured that the Dhanbad Division would soon send a proposal based on the demand of Sindri residents to the East Central Railway Headquarters at Hajipur as well as the Railway board.

Talking to The Telegraph Online, Sewa Singh said, “The Sindri township residents, majority of whom are retired employees of erstwhile factory of Fertilizer Corporation of India are deprived of any transport service.”

Talking about any alternatives, the president of the All India FCI VSS Employee’s Association added, “Autorickshaw service is not an alternate to train or bus service as it is expensive and tiresome. The passengers are also compelled to make ‘break-journeys’ to reach Dhanbad from Sindri in autorickhshaws.”

DN Singh, the vice president of the same association said, “Very few autorickshaws make direct trips from Sindri to Dhanbad and the rest go to Jharia, from where another auto has to be hired for Dhanbad.”

“In 1960s and 70s, before train services were launched, eight to 10 buses used to operate between Sindri and Dhanbad, all of which used to make three of four trips. But they were discontinued after the launch of local train service in October 1982. We demand the district administration to deploy the City buses of Dhanbad so that we can at least have some relief before train services are resumed,” he added.

“The autorickshaw fare from Sindri to Dhanbad is Rs 50, while that of local trains was just Rs 10. The journey is also very exhausting due to damaged roads,” Uma Shankar Singh said.

“We reasoned that the Jharkhand government is planning to open schools, and may also open colleges thereafter. This would increase the difficulties of college-goers as Sindri does not have post-graduation institutes, and the students have to travel to Dhanbad. Over a hundred students, many of them girls, depend on local train services and will have to face a lot of difficulties without them,” another member of the delegation said.

The passenger train facility, which was launched way back in 1982, used to make three ferries between Dhanbad and Sindri everyday, was the most convenient source of transport for hundreds of students, government officials, daily wage earners and traders.