Bathinda administration relents, halts pipeline work at Ghaso Khana village, claims Dallewal

Senior farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Thursday night claimed that the Bathinda district administration had finally agreed to their demand not to lay the drain pipeline in the residential area of Ghaso Khana village. He also said the administration had unconditionally released all the farmers arrested over the past couple of days during protests against the project.

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Earlier in the day, Dallewal visited some farmers at the Bathinda Civil Hospital, including Baldev Singh Sandoha, who were on a hunger strike, and offered them coconut water to break their fast.

Notably, work on the Bathinda – Maur sewage drain is currently underway, and farmers have expressed concerns about the potential consequences if the pipeline were to leak in the future.

While welcoming the farmers, who were released from the district jail in Muktsar on Thursday night, Dallewal said, “The farmers have won this fight against the state government. I have received reports that the farmers have also been released from Ferozepur and Ludhiana jails. Our senior leader Kaka Singh Kotra and others were released earlier from Amritsar jail. The administration had doubted that the farmers would persist, but now it has agreed to our demand not to lay the drain pipeline in the residential area of Ghaso Khana village in Bathinda.”

He added, “We held a meeting with the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner on Thursday, who agreed to lay the pipeline according to the design recommended by the village residents. Furthermore, we showed the DC a document from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding the disposal of polluted water.”

Dallewal further appealed to the public to be aware of their rights.