Farmers, villagers face off over toll plaza

Members of the Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) and residents of Warring village had a minor skirmish over the closure of the Warring toll plaza on the Muktsar-Kotkapura road on Sunday. Villagers alleged that the police present at the spot used mild force.

The issue flared up when union activists attempted to shut down the plaza, claiming the company had failed to construct new bridges on the widened road and that the facility should, therefore, be closed immediately. The villagers, however, opposed the move, arguing that it would render nearly 25 youths from the village jobless, who were employed by the toll operator.

They recalled that the plaza had already remained closed for almost two years after a bus plunged into a canal in September 2023, killing eight persons. At that time, another farmer union had staged an indefinite protest, which ended on July 16 this year after the company assured the district administration that the construction of new bridges would begin soon.

Toll plaza manager Jatinder Patel said, “We recently held a meeting with the farmer union that had organised the earlier protest and the district administration. We assured them that the work on the bridges would start within two months. However, activists of another union came today to close that, which the villagers resisted. Now, a meeting has been scheduled with the district administration for Monday.”

Meanwhile, village sarpanch Jugraj Singh said, “We will not allow the toll plaza to be closed again, as our youths have already suffered huge financial losses.”