Farmers block roads in Sangrur, Jalandhar against power outages

Farmers blocked Sunam-Patiala road near Nagra village in Sangrur for seven hours against the power outages

Amid the power crisis in the state, farmers under the banner of BKU (Dakaunda) and BKU (Rajewal) on Monday blocked Sunam-Patiala road near Nagra village in Sangrur for seven hours against the outages. In Sangrur, A large number of protesters jammed traffic in front of the Gharachon power grid and raised slogans against the electricity department and Punjab government.

Farmers blocking a road in Sangrur against the power outages on Monday. (HT Photo)

Also, farmers blocked Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway for two hours at PAP Chowk in Jalandhar. The blockade affected the vehicular traffic going towards Amritsar, Jammu and Ludhiana. Police and civil administration officials reached the protest site and pacified the farmers. The dharna was lifted after Jalandhar zone PSPCL engineer-in-chief Jain Inder Dania assured the farmers that uninterrupted power supply will resume within two days, citing countrywide coal shortage as the reason behind the outages.

Sangrur chief of BKU (Dakaunda) Gurmeet Singh Bhattiwal said, “The paddy crop needs irrigation and the government is resorting to power cuts. If the problem is not resolved within two days, we will intensify agitation.”