Jalandhar: Farmers laid siege at Dhannowali on Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch along the NH-1 blocking all direct links between major cities, including Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pathankot.
Police have given diversions via longer routes. All 32 farmers unions are participating in the dharna and have termed the Rs 15 per quintal hike announced by the state government on sugarcane SAP as a “cruel joke”.
They said that they were expecting at least Rs 70 per quintal hike since the prices have been revised after four years. The farmers have announced to sit on rail track at 4 pm and block the railway line for an indefinite period. This is Delhi-Amritsar rail line.
They have also said that they would lay a ‘pucca morcha’ on the highway in case the state government does not raise the sugarcane SAP up to their demand.
Though farmers are already present in thousands, Manjit Rai, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba), says that so far only 15 per cent farmers have converged and various farmer convoys from across Punjab were still on the way. Commuters from across the region, including those from Delhi, Jammu, Chandigarh, Amritsar and Pathankot, were harried a lot as they got stuck in road and rail traffic due to the farmers’ protest.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, and SSP Naveen Singla met the protesting farmers in the evening and appealed to them to lift their dharna to clear the traffic.AGENCIES