Seventy-one passenger trains were cancelled and diverted due to the protests in Punjab near Dasua where farmers blocked rail tracks to protest non-payment of sugarcane dues by the state government, the Railway Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said in a statement the agitation started at 12:15 pm and was still going on.

"Nearly 250 protesters, all of a sudden, gathered at level crossing A- 82 between Dasua and Khuda Kurala stations and squatted on tracks, thereby blocking both up and down rail traffic," Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.

"Consequently, nearly 35 trains had to be cancelled, 16 diverted via Amritsar and 20 trains short terminated," Kumar said.

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