Commuters heave sigh of relief as farmers lift rail, road blockade in Jalandhar

Jalandhar, November 24

Coming as a major relief for the commuters who need to shuttle past the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the National Highway, the road blockade by Samyukt Kisan Morcha was finally cleared this evening.

Daily ordeal finally over

It had become a daily ordeal for me to cover the 25-minute distance between Phagwara and Jalandhar. It was taking me well over 90 minutes to cover the distance by scooter using service lanes. Subhash Sharma, Pvt company employee

The farmers, who had been demanding a hike in the sugarcane price , had blocked the railway track since 11 am yesterday which too was removed this morning. The farmers had been called by CM Bhagwant Mann for a meeting at Chandigarh where the CM is learnt to have assured them of a hike, which is yet to be announced. The farmers had been demanding a hike in state assured price of sugarcane from Rs 380 to Rs 450 a quintal.

Farmers had cleared the rail tracks before leaving for Chandigarh. As all leaders led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) Manjit Singh Rai returned back to the dharna site this evening, they also cleared the road. By 7 pm, the entire stretch had got cleared and complete traffic normalcy had been restored.

Subhash Sharma, who works in a private company in Phagwara but resides in Jalandhar, said it had become a daily ordeal for him to cover the 25 minute distance between the two cities. “It was taking me well over 90 minutes to cover the same distance, that too by scooter using the service lanes,” he said.

Sukhvir Singh, whose daughter’s wedding is scheduled at a marriage palace on Phagwara road this Sunday, also heaved a sigh of relief. “Our family had been tense since the baraat was to come from Batala and there could have been some traffic snarls and inconvenience,” he said.

Dinesh Kumar, whose daughter studies in a Chandigarh college and was to come back this evening by bus, too said that she reached comfortably by 8:30 pm without any diversions and delays. “We were really worried for her and were calling her after every 15 minutes to keep a track of her,” he said.