Farmers make Ladhowal toll plaza free for commuters
Warn of making route toll-free indefinitely if demands not met
As announced, farmer organisations made the Ladhowal toll barrier free for commuters on Monday. Reason, the dilly-dallying attitude of the administration in starting the work of constructing the Dhussi bandh at Sasrali Colony which was washed away during the floods. Other demand of the farmers was to take action to improve the poor condition of Rahon Road here.
Farmer organisations have made it clear that if the administration fails to meet their demands, the Ladhowal toll plaza will be made free indefinitely.
During the floods, the Sutlej’s Dhussi bandh in Ludhiana’s Sasrali Colony was breached, causing significant damages to land and crops. After rains stopped and the water level in the Sutlej receded, the administration stopped paying attention to the Sasrali dhussi bandh and stopped the work.
Dilbag Singh, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union, Punjab, said farmers and villagers had been protesting for a long time. They had also submitted a memorandum of demands to the district administration. Despite this, the authorities failed to start the construction of the bandh in Sasrali. Farmers and other residents were angry due to the administration’s attitude.
He said Rahon Road was in poor shape and construction work on the stretch was not completed. He had informed the administration several times about the same but the work was not restarted.
Dilbag Singh asserted that now, Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain had assured that Dhussi bandh construction would start by February 2 as new tenders were already in place but the union had also issued a warning to the administration that if it failed to start the construction work, farmer unions would start protest at the toll barrier from February 8 and the toll company would not be allowed to collect toll fee from commuters.
Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain told The Tribune that tender was already in place and construction work would be started soon. The administration was also holding talks with farmer unions to resolve the issue.
