Farmers block Chandigarh-Patiala road throughout the day; commuters forced to take alternate routes

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 16

The road connecting Chandigarh and Patiala remained shut on Wednesday due to a protest organised by farmer unions associated with Samyuky Kisan Morcha (non-political). As a result, district police had to make special arrangements for traffic flow. Commuters felt harassed, but major traffic snarls were averted.

Farmer unions associated with Samyuky Kisan Morcha (non-political), including the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) Sidhupur held a protest at the Dhareri Jattan toll plaza over their demands of compensation for not burning crop residue, cancellation of police cases registered against farmers and others.

The protest started in the afternoon and continued till the evening. As a result commuters on the road extending from Chandigarh to Patiala through Rajpura and further connecting to Sangrur, Bathinda and other parts of Punjab were left hassled and had to take alternate routes.

The call for the protest and road-blockage was issued by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political), comprising a number of farmer unions, for a simultaneous protest at places including Dhareri Jattan toll plaza on the Rajpura-Patiala road, Faridkot Tehna T-point, Bhandari flyover in Amritsar, Mansa, Mukerian and Talwandi Sabo. Their call even suggested people not to take the specific routes for commuting where the protests were planned.

Swarn Singh, Patiala district general secretary of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) Sidhupur said farmers had raised a number of demands with the state government but were not fulfilled. He said, “The government has failed to provide compensation for not burning crop residue. The farmers are forced to burn paddy straw as its management by another means is not feasible without government grants. Instead, they are sending notices to farmers for burning the residue.”

He said other demands of the farmers include timely functioning of sugarcane mills in the state and cancellation of police cases registered against the farmers. He said, “Despite giving assurances, the government has failed to cancel police cases registered against farmers during protests and those previously registered for burning crop residue.”

Meanwhile, the commuters who landed on the road nevertheless and were left stranded mid-way quipped, “They are protesting against the government, but as a result, only the general public is being harassed.”

The police, in light of the protest, made provisions for diversion of the traffic. SP Patiala city, DSP Rural and other police officials remained stationed at the protest sites. The police redirected the traffic from Bahadurgarh to Daun Kalan road and toward Ghanour. Diversions were created right from the Urban Estate area of the city to Patiala Sirhind road as well. Harshveer Singh, SHO, Patiala Sadar police station said major traffic problems were averted. “We had redirected the traffic from morning itself.”

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