Woman delivers baby in stranded train at Jaleswar station in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: A pregnant woman travelling on the Secunderabad-Guwahati Express, which was stuck at Jaleswar station in the state because of a 'rail roko' movement in neighbouring West Bengal, gave birth to a girl inside the train on Monday evening.
Arsha Jahan, 30, and a relative were going to her home in Bihar’s Kisanganj from Vijaywada. She was travelling on the S5 coach of the Guwahati-bound train, when it arrived at Jaleswar station in Balasore district at 7 in the morning.With the agitators squatting on the tracks at Nekurseni station in Bengal, to seek the promotion of Santhali in schools and colleges, the train, like many others, could go no further.
At around 6.30 pm, Arsha went into labour, Her relative informed station master Khagendra Mandal and he called a doctor and a nurse from a nearby hospital to attend to the woman. “They came and helped the woman deliver the baby. Both mother and child are fine,” said Mandal.
Sources said women passengers helped the nurse segregate Arsha from the rest of the passengers in the coach. “We persuaded the woman to move to the hospital but she refused. She is still in the train and plans to continue her journey whenever the train resumes. We have arranged for medicine, food and warm water for the mother and the child,” said Mandal.
Till the time this report was filed at 9.45 pm, the train was still at Jaleswar.
Passengers on Monday faced a hard time after ten trains were cancelled and at least 17 long-distance trains passing through the state were delayed. Services on the Howrah-Chennai mainline were affected, especially in Bhadrak and Balasore, due to the rail roko organized by a tribal outfit called Bharat Jakat Maji Pargana Mahal.
The Kharagpur-Bhadrak passenger, Bhadrak-Balasore passenger, Puri-Howrah Express, Puri-Howrah Jagannath Express, Puri-Howrah Dhauli Express and the Khurda Road-Kharagpur passenger were cancelled on Monday. Four other trains will be cancelled on Tuesday. These are the Puri-Howrah Shatabdi, Khurda Road-Puri passenger, Bhubaneswar-Howrah Jan Shatabdiand Puri Sealdah Duronto Express. Besides, six long-distance trains were diverted through Keonjhar, East Coast Railway sources said.
Train movement was also affected by the collapse of electric wires between Lelliguma and Bhalumaska stations in Rayagadadistrict. Trains on the Koraput-Rayagada section were affected for around four hours. Three trains, including the Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur Hirakhand Express, were detained at Sikarpai.
Besides, the Puri-Khurda Road Passenger and the Khurda Road-Nayagarh Town Passenger will not run on Tuesday due to modernization work at Puri station.
Passengers, especially those travelling with small children and patients, faced a tough time due to the chaos on the tracks. Some tourists from Bengal, who returning home from Odisha, were stranded at Basta station due to the rail roko. “I needed to be in Kolkata on Monday evening but the East Coast Express was stranded at Dhanmandal,” said Simanchal Behera, a trader from Berhampur.