The only railway service in the country—Jayanagar-Janakpur Railways—has halted its operation for the past three days ‘owing to problem in managing fuel’.

As a result, thousands of people in the area who solely depend on the railway service to reach the district headquarters have been affected.

Ram Jiwan Sah, who was using the train service for his business, vented ire at the concerned authorities saying that they duped people by halting the service without prior notice.

Lallan Jha, station master of railway service, said they had to halt the service as the diesel supplier declined to provide them fuel on credit. As Account Officer and Acting General Manager Rameshwor Yadav and Administrative Officer Tula Bahadur Dangi are in the Capital on official deputation, junior officials were unable to withdraw the amount and make payments for the diesel supplier.

The railway service was earning more than Rs 30,000 every day from passenger tickets. However, as the amount collected has to be deposited in the bank, railway officials cannot spend the money at their discretion.

Meanwhile, Yadav who is in on deputation at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority in the Capital claimed he had been a victim of staffers’ insubordination.

Adding that the amount due was only Rs 150,000 and that the diesel could easily be managed with a little effort from staffers at Janakpur, he said he could have signed the cheque and solved the problem if only the staff had sent him the cheque.

According to sources, the railway officials are yet to receive approximately Rs 150,000 from the Hanuman Temple management for operating a vegetable market on the railway premises. The Janakpur-based staffers, however, have not shown any interest in collecting the amount.