NOTHING proves it better than the mushrooming illegal stations on the Patna-Buxar line that neither the writ of the railways nor the state government runs in Bihar. Local toughs, with ample support from the villagers, have set up makeshift platforms along the 110-km stretch. All passenger trains plying between Patna and Mughalsarai halt at these unofficial stops.
There are seven such stations in all, most have quaint names. There is the Laloo Yadav Halt, the V.V. Giri Halt, Sarvodaya Halt, the New Sarvodaya Halt, Kuwar Singh Halt, Parasia Halt and the Dharauli Halt. These stations do not have a shelter for passengers but display boards with the name of each station. Train drivers and guards admit that they stop at these 'stations', which do not figure on the railway map, for fear of the goons.
On a ride in the engine of the Patna-Mughalsarai Fast Passenger, the driver stopped at each of the unscheduled halts. He said those who had failed to take cog-nisance of the illegal halts were beaten up by the locals. "If we don't stop, somebody snips off the vacuum hose and stops the train. Then the entire village pounces on us." The railway authorities are aware of these 'stations'. But even when a driver was beaten up last year by villagers at one such stop, no action was taken.
Sarvodaya Halt was the first 'station' to come up in 1995. Soon its neighbouring village set up its own station—New Sarvodaya Halt. And no, no one contacted the Planning Commission or the Railway Board. All that the villagers did was to raise the ground alongside a length of the railway track and ask the local painter to put up two boards. The station started functioning once the trains were forcibly stopped.
The villagers do everything to help set up these illegal stations as they are dependent on the rail link to sell their produce in towns and cities. Express and Mail trains do not halt at these stations, but should passengers board one at Patna or Buxar, they do not hesitate to pull the chain to stop the train at their village station.
Keeping with the prevailing travel norms in this part of the country, the illegal stations have no ticket counters. Local dadas, however, do collect money from the villagers to "maintain" the station. Needless to say, these toughs enjoy the patronage of political parties.
Police officials point out that the illegal stations only reinforces the popular notion that the law of the land does not hold in the state. Two years after the first illegal station, the authorities are still looking into the matter. Points out additional DGP Sinha: "We have informed the state government as well as the Railway Ministry. We will take some action."
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