Growers seek better price for kinnow, halt traffic

Abohar, November 24

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A dharna that started on Sunday under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhpur) today turned into a ‘chakka jam’ as the protesters demanded remunerative prices for kinnow fruit.

The farmers staged a sit-in on the overbridge on National Highway-10, near Dangarkhera village on the Abohar-Fazilka stretch of the GT road, and blocked the traffic. Due to this, hundreds of commuters coming from both sides had to face problems. Farmers raised slogans against traders and commission agents (arhtiyas), alleging that they were denying sufficient price for the fruit at the mandi here.

BKU vice-president Bhupinder Singh Dhillon said the farmers were not being given a fair price for kinnow and were being financially exploited by agents who were buying the crop for Rs 4-5 per kg. “We started raising a voice against the economic exploitation of the farmers, staged a sit-in at the kinnow mandi in the new grain market complex and shut business, but none has so far resolved the issue,” Dhillon added. The protesters decided to stay near the overbridge throughout the night. SDM Jaspal Singh Brar tried to resolve the dispute but traders reportedly claimed that unripe fruit was being transported to the mandi, which couldn’t fetch good price due to transportation problems that had erupted due to the agrarian stir and the November 26 Delhi protest call. — OC