The situation in Ferozepur’s Zira turned tense on Tuesday when the farmers and the police come face to face after a large number of farmers, belonging to various outfits, reach the protest site near the distillery and ethanol plant in Mansurwal village to support the ongoing protest by removing all the police barriers or barricades.
The farmers, after removing barricades put up by the police on a road in the village leading to the protest site, clashed with the police personnel deployed at the factory’s gate. The two sides also entered into heated arguments.
The Police also had to use mild lathicharge to move the farmers aside, following which, the farmers also clashed with them. The clash between the farmers and the police took place near a T-point, far away from the main protest site. Heavy police deployment was made in the area to safely escort the factory workers into the premises.
Villagers, under the banner of Sanjha Morcha, have been protesting in front of the distillery and ethanol plant for the past five months, demanding that it should be shut down as it was allegedly polluting underground water and causing air pollution.
On Sunday, several protesters were detained for blocking police vehicles during an operation of the Punjab Police to evict agitators from the road leading to the distillery.
Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kanwardeep Kaur said that the police are not preventing anyone from reaching the protest site. “If any person tries to disturb law and order by obstructing the government officials on duty or by posting any objectionable posts on social media, he will be dealt with a firm hand,” she said. The district police chief also made it clear that the protesters can carry on with their ‘dharna’ but “we have to ensure safe passage for the plant workers inside the factory as per the Court directives”.
“Anyone, who interrupts in this process, shall be dealt with in accordance with the law,” said the SSP.
Notably, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed that the protesters should be shifted 300 meters from the present spot. The case also came up for hearing in the High Court on Tuesday. However, a copy of the detailed orders are awaited.
The protesting farmers have been alleging that the people, living in the area around the plant, have been suffering due to pollution caused by the plant for the last several years. Not only this, the crops of farmers are getting destroyed and people have also been diagnosed with cancer.
The state Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, reaching out to the agitators on Saturday while assuring that their concerns will be addressed, had assured that special fact-finding committees, comprising experts from various fields, will be set up in this regard. However, the protesters are sticking to their demand of shutting down the plant.
OPPOSITION SLAMS MANN GOVT
Strongly condemning the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab Government, the leaders of the opposition parties in the state have come out heavily on the way the situation is being handled.
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who condemned the use of force against the protesting farmers, said: “Using force against protesting farmers is no solution, you need to listen to their concerns.”
“No doubt there are court orders to open the passage to the distillery, but the police and the local administration could have done it peacefully by negotiating with the farmers,” he said.
Capt Amarinder said that the farmers’ apprehensions are based on past experience as the industrial effluents do lead to groundwater contamination leading to various diseases including cancer. People in that area have suffered from various diseases, he pointed out. “When the entire world is becoming environmentally conscious and concerned, our farmers are being beaten up for raising environmental concerns which is not acceptable”, he said, and advised the government to negotiate with the farmers instead of using force against them.
Cautioning the Government to handle the farmers’ protest with utmost care and caution, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that any force used against protesting farmers is unacceptable. “The entire Malwa region is suffering from the spread of cancer caused by contamination of groundwater. How can they allow it to happen again, unless their fears are not duly addressed by scientific examination and reasoning?” he asked.
Reacting to the reports of siege and police action following the court orders to clear the path to the distillery, the PCC president blamed the AAP Government for letting the situation drift to a stage, which has led to confrontation.
“Farmers have genuine apprehensions that the effluents from the distillery may pollute the groundwater, which the government should have addressed in the beginning only, while instead it allowed the situation to linger on”, he pointed out while welcoming the High Court suggestion that it can order the constitution of a committee that will examine the farmers’ apprehensions that the effluents might cause pollution to the groundwater.
Also condemning the lathicharge on farmers and villagers, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “should stick to promise of fulfilling demands of protesters instead of using high handed means to suppress their agitation”.