Farmers Movement Archive

Chaos on Ludhiana-Delhi highway as protesters hold up traffic

LUDHIANA: Protests by multiple groups left Ludhiana-Delhi National Highway in a state of chaos. Long queues of vehicles, fuming passengers and hassled traffic police personnel could be seen as farmers’ union members joined the protest staged by temporary employees seeking regularisation. President, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Punjab, Rajinder Benipal said temporary employees of some departments and teachers staged a protest near Sirhind Canal on Saturday and they (farmers unions) supported them. “Demands of teachers should have been agreed to long ago by the government as they provide education to children. We supported them the way they supported us,” said BKU Punjab president. Police had to divert traffic at Samrala Chowk to service lanes near Dhandari Kalan, Sahnewal, Doraha and Khanna. This led to traffic snarls along the main highway from Ludhiana to Khanna, especially on one side. Vehicles, including buses, were hedged on the wrong side of the road at several places near Dhandari, Sahnewal, Doraha and Khanna. Even though part of the road did not have much traffic, police still diverted vehicles, especially those headed towards Khanna, to the service lane. In Khanna, traffic moved at snail’s pace. The confusion and heat led to frazzled nerves among commuters. “It normally takes around an hour to reach Khanna from Samrala Chowk but today, because of traffic issues, it took me more than double the time to cover the same distance. It was a bad experience exacerbated by the hot weather. Vehicles consumed more fuel as the air conditioner had to be kept on in slow traffic,” said Surjeet Singh, a commuter. Traffic police personnel also said they faced problems managing traffic. “As Thekedar mazdoors (contractual workers) staged a protest near Sirhind of Fatehgarh Sahib from 10am to 4pm, traffic in Khanna was slowed down. Our men faced problems managing traffic as it was quite hot,” said city traffic in-charge Khanna, inspector Jagjiwan Singh.

The Times of India

2021-07-11

Ludhiana