Numbers swell at Punjab's Zira, farmers in for long haul against liquor plant

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, December 22

Mansurwala in Zira is turning into another Tikri, with a large number of farmers descending on the village in support of the local Sanjha Morcha in its protest against a distillery.

The protest entered its 152nd day on Thursday, Almost 900 activists belonging to seven farm unions arrived at Mansurwala today. More are likely to follow suit in the next few days. Members of the Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha are scheduled to join the protest on Friday.

Say won’t budge till distillery shut

• Farmers in large numbers gathering at Mansurwala village in Zira to support protest against distillery
• Dozens of tents have already come up at dharna site; farmers bringing food, other material
• They say they are here for a long haul, won’t lift dharna till the distillery is shut
• Residents of 40 villages protesting against the distillery, accusing it of contaminating water

Dozens of tents have already come up. A large number of farmers have brought tractor-trailers laden with food and other material, indicating that they are here for a long haul and have no intention to lift the dharna till their demands are met.

Residents of nearly 40 villages have been protesting against the distillery and ethanol plant, accusing it of polluting the environment and contaminating the groundwater. They allege effluents discharged by the plant are posing serious health hazards, besides leading to a decline in crop productivity in the area. All attempts to convince the protesters have proved futile even as the NGT has already given a “clean chit” to the plant.

Even the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the protesters to move their dharna 300 m away from the plant and allow safe passage to the workers.

A meeting of Sanjha Morcha representatives and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was held last week. State minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had also visited the protest site, but these high profile meetings failed to yield the desired result, with protesters saying they won’t move an inch till the plant was closed. Avtar Singh Mehma of BKU (Krantikari) said, “The villagers are fighting for clean water and air, which is their right. If the plant is not closed, it will spell doom for the coming generations.”

Sukhwant Singh of KMSC alleged, “The government should have handled the matter seriously during the early days of the protest, but it didn’t bother.”

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