Farmers gear up for Ludhiana Chalo protest on December 3

To make the December 3 ‘Ludhiana Chalo’ programme a success, farmers organisations in Sriganganagar district have stepped up mobilisation in rural areas.

Under the ‘Zehar se Mukti’ campaign, farmers associations had got support from Beopar Mandal and other social organisations. Now, the Bar Associations in Sriganganagar and Abohar have also decided to support it.

Both have sent memorandums to the Punjab Chief Minister through local administration demanding decisive action to end the menace of river water pollution.

BKU leaders Ravinder Tarkhan and Sukhvir Singh Fauji visited several villages, including Ganguwala and Faqirwali, to motivate farmers to participate in the December 3 programme. They said hundreds of people would reach Sadhuwali link channel on Abohar-Sriganganagar road at 6 am on December 3 on buses. From there, the cavalcade will move to organise a protest near Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana.

Tarkhan said even after 78 years of independence, three crore people of Punjab and Rajasthan have not been provided clean drinking water and the rivers are getting polluted. He said that the entire region is dependent on Sutlej river which is becoming a centre of cancer, black jaundice and incurable diseases.

“Our demand is clear that the industrial units which are polluting the Sutlej should be closed,” he said.