ABOHAR – Hundreds of protesting farmers from villages of Abohar, Balluana and Fazilka constituencies performed ‘virodh asana’ on the grounds of the canal colony on Tuesday.
They followed their ‘teacher’, Abohar MLA Sunil Jakhar, as he gave commands for ‘ardh virodh asana’ and ‘puran virodh asana’, followed by slogans like ‘Punjab sarkar Murdabad’, ‘Badal sarkar murdabad’ and ‘Kisan dushman sarkar murdabad’”.
Earlier, addressing the gathering Jakhar said CM Parkash Singh Badal performs ‘Modi Vandana’ and ‘Modi Poojan’ occasionally but had not been able to get any special package sanctioned to put farmers on a firm footing. The NDA government was not inclined to watch the interests of Punjab on the SYL issue. The state cannot afford to spare even a drop of water for neighbouring states.
Similarly, farmers in Abohar, Balluana and Fazilka segments cannot afford to let Jathedars of the Badals to grab their share of canal water. Here, water reservoirs were drying and villagers have to pay Rs 500 for a tanker for drinking. The state has five rivers and Abohar subdivision has five canals but the same were closed on rotation basis to divert water to the Badals constituency and this will not be tolerated, he warned.
The protesters told Jakhar that not even a drop of water was available at the tail-end villages whereas Agriculture Department officials had advised them to water their cotton crop and kinnows in the orchards. Jakhar said he would continue his dharna at the divisional office of the Irrigation Department till water was released in the canals.
