Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) activists in Orissa have disrupted train services across the state on July 7 while protesting against Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee allocating scanty funds for projects in the state.

The demonstration and dharna on tracks were done for about two hours resulting disruptions in train services at many places. According to the Railway sources, BJD workers sat on the railway tracks at some stations blocking the movement of trains, while they held demonstrations outside the stations at other places like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Thousands of BJD workers holding placard gathered to protest, organised demonstrations and condemned Banerjee’s Rail Budget. Due to the protest the Sambalpur-Rayagada Intercity Express was held up for nearly one hour at Kesinga station.

The services of Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express and Vishakhapatnam-Amritsar-Hirakud Express have also affected due to this protest. Amidst the protests, the Hirakud Express left Sambalpur station in jittery without some coaches attached to it. Soon the driver was alerted and the train returned.

According to railway official Nihar Mishra, “The coupler that joins two bogies was broken near the pantry car, which led to the problem. However, it left the station after the problem was shorted out.”

M D Sahu, senior spokesman of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) stated, “Train services were affected in many stations.”