Over?
I have my doubts about the peace agreement. The Meena are still worried that the Gujjars are going to be taking a slice of their part of the pie. (Which they will, given that the government has finite resources). These talks are Gujjar-government only, and there is a three month waiting period while the courts decide what to do.
Anyway, the point is that the Delhi-bandh (literally meaning Delhi-closed) resulted in low intensity street warfare, railway systems were disrupted, and at the minimum around a million dollars economic loss in the tourism industry. (Does not include business and cargo losses etc).
Cost Of Train Failures
The industry has suffered a loss of almost Rs 50 crore so far and many hotel owners say it could well take some time for business to return to normal.
Trains Cancelled
The count of cascading failures is at 26.
Railway System Response
Network rerouting is the main concern at this point, but the potential for appropriate responses is limited. To rerout a train one has to either contact a travel agent (who, because of his cut, is not an option for many) or go to the nearest train station where there are usually 5 or so counters open for a railway official to get what you need done.
The counters each have a PC connected to some software platform, but the technology is past its prime and approximately a third of each operation requires pen and pad (there are no calculators, and forms must be filled out in duplicate).
Train stations are filling up beyond capacity as trains are stopped, canceled or rerouted and people are abandoned.
Those stuck in the middle of nowhere are reported no power, no food, and no water, though RSS (Hindu nationalists) are en route with aid – the problem is that the group has a tendency to become violent. In the mean time, local entrepreneurs are swarming on stopped trains with inflated but necessary goods – water, food, taxis.
In addition, the Gujjar/Meena conflict has set up a system where any pertubation would have major returns – something that has not gone unnoticed.
I will continue to report on developments, but won’t actually be in the area until around the 20’th (flight networks are rapidly reaching capacity).
Details On Meena vs. Gurjar
I knew this situation was picking up steam, but given the small amount of time I have here I thought I would wait one more day before heading to Delhi. Turns out that was the wrong move.
I am currently supposed to be on a train to Delhi from Bhopal, but the Meena vs Gurjar conflict is taking off and preventing that train from running (it is currently stuck without power about half way through).
Clearly the two tribes understand and are implementing the tactic of systems disruption. Using only shovels the two tribes have been able to (as of early this morning) physically lift and remove 17 railway lines, preventing access from much of Gujurat and Rajasthan. Secondary repercussions have resulted in some 20-30 trains being stuck in what can only be called a train-traffic-jam.
Very little of this has been specifically ordered by higher-ups. This is a case study in emergence.