Irate Bhogpur residents block Pathankot road for over 3 hrs

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 8

Led by Congress MLA Sukhwinder Kotli, angry residents of Bhogpur blocked the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway for more than three and a half hours, demanding that the agreement to set up a bio-CNG plant on the premises of Bhogpur Cooperative Sugar Mill be scrapped.

Plant to pose health risk

There are residential colonies right next to the sugar mill. The health of those residing in these colonies is at stake. If the soil and groundwater get contaminated, the farmers in the area too could be adversely affected. —

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Balwinder S Malli Nangal, Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee

Traffic diverted

• After the protest staged by the residents, traffic on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway

  was diverted, which increased the travel time of commuters by nearly 15 minutes

• The commuters were made to turn from Bhogpur sugar mill towards Adampur to

  move further

• The diversion led to some traffic congestion but the vehicles kept moving slowly

A large number of farmers gathered at the grain market of Bhogpur around 9 am on the call of Adampur legislator Kotli and a 51-member Sangharsh Committee formed. They held a protest for an hour, asking the government to scrap bio-CNG plant plan on the mill premises.

Around 10 am, they marched toward the Bhogpur T-point on the Jalandhar-Pathankot road where they pitched tents and started a protest after blocking the highway. The police tried to block their movement towards the highway by shutting the gates of the grain market but they all managed to cross these.

Shopkeepers of Bhogpur also pulled down their shutters and joined the protest. Over 800 agitators gathered at the site. The agitators included sarpanches, panches, MC councillors and block committee members.

Kotli said the protest had been held after the district administration dithered from its commitment to stop the construction activity at the plant site.

President of the Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee Balwinder S Malli Nangal said the plant could affect their lives by causing air, soil and water pollution. “There are residential colonies right next to the sugar mill. The health of the families residing in these colonies was at stake. If the soil and groundwater get contaminated, the farmers in the area too could be adversely affected”, he said.

The agitators lifted dharna around 1:30 pm when SDM Balbir Raj and SP Manpreet Dhillon reached the spot and assured them of a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal soon. They also got an assurance from the mill management for stopping the construction of the plant till their meeting with the DC.