Going back in History
Sometimes we want to be going back to history. Palashthali is a small railway station built during the British period before independence. A dilapidated station house surrounded by tall-grass-teak-mahua on rough red soil. The railway line extends from Bhimgarh in Birbhum and up to Jharkhand. That is, some part of the railway line is in Birbhum, some part is in Jharkhand. Palashthali station currently belongs to Jharkhand. There is a coal mine under this station. As a result, illegal mining continues regularly. Random, uncontrolled excavation has damaged the soil adjacent to the railway line. It has been almost 20 years since the train stopped.
This railway was started in 1953. The length of the railway is about 27 km. This Bhimgarh-Palashthali railway line of Saithia-Andal branch of Eastern Railway was once populated and busy. Trains ran two to four times a day. These railways were the means of communication of people from remote areas. Way to Burdwan, Asansol, Kolkata was easy. The daily livelihood of the marginal people was also favorable. Although not a passenger transport, some parts of the freight train still run today. But this railway line is in disrepair to lift coal from the abandoned mine at Ekala next to Barara village. Meanwhile, the Jharkhand government has also demanded to start this railway line. But, it was not possible due to dangerous condition of the line.
Many people used this railway for trade. Many times, even if there was no station, the passengers would stop the train in their own village and get off by telling the guard if necessary. Some were engaged in drinking business, some were commuters for studies, some had other jobs. Many tribal women regularly used to go by train to sell the products made of shalpata, kendupata, pial in different areas. Someone used to go to sell pitchers of cold water in Birbhum-Jharkhand heat. All these have been closed since September 2002 when trains stopped running on this branch. Easy and short communication routes have also been closed.
