Thousands of commuters had a harrowing time on Monday as Indian National lok Dal (INlD) members blocked the national highway near Ambala and four other highways in Haryana as part of their one-day protest to press for their demand of construction of Sutlej Yamuna link (SYl) canal.
The INlD members started their blockade at five places around 10 am and continued to block the highways till 3 pm leading to the harassment of general public in scorching weather conditions.
The vehicles were being stopped by INlD workers at five places -- the lalru-Chandigarh stretch on NH-1, Ambala-Shambhu border on NH-1, Narwana-Dhanauri border, Ratia-Budhlada road (Jakhal point) in Fatehabad district and Dabwali in Sirsa district. Following which, the police in Punjab and Haryana diverted traffic through longer routes and village roads, leading to chaos and confusion for the commuters moving from Punjab to Haryana, Delhi and beyond.Seeking construction of the SYl canal to get Haryana’s share of water, INlD leaders and workers squatted on the roads, placed tyres and even parked their own vehicles and tractors at several places to disrupt vehicular movement in an over five-hour long protest.The INlD workers also handed out flowers to the flustered motorists and spoke about how the proposed canal would be the lifeline of Haryana and they should ask Punjab Government to give water to Haryana.
led by senior party leaders and MlAs, the party members gathered at various protest sites in the morning. leader of opposition in Haryana and INlD’s senior leader Abhay Chautala visited all protest points and addressed the party workers urging them to continue their fight for the construction of SYl canal.
Traffic snarls were witnessed at six places - two at the Ambala-Chandigarh national highway, two in Fatehabad and one each in Jind and Sirsa districts. The protest remained peaceful, said police officials.
The INlD protestors forced closure of the Shambhu toll plaza near the Ambala-Shambhu border disrupting movement of traffic, following which Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were deployed at the site. Punjab Roadways and the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation did not ply their buses to Haryana and Delhi till the protest ended.
INlD leader Abhay Chautala, while addressing the mediapersons said that the party’s fight is for getting water for the farmers and people of Haryana through the SYl canal. Chautala also snapped at a journalist in Dabwali town, labelling him as a "government agent", after he (Chautala) was asked about the harassment caused to common people due to the INlD protest. "People of Haryana are being harassed for the last 50 years. We will fight for the water. Who had to face harassment (today)IJ" he retorted angrily.
Chautala added, “The Centre and Punjab Governments are not ready to accept the Supreme Court verdict on the SYl canal. It is the responsibility of the Centre to get the verdict implemented.”
“We will get this order implemented by putting pressure on the government to get our share in river water," added he.Calling their protest over water sharing issue as "symbolic and peaceful", INlD state unit chief Ashok Arora acknowledged that people faced inconvenience because of stopping entry of vehicles but added that the party has not done anything illegal by holding a protest.
Arora, while talking to the mediapersons said, “We know people have faced problems… Haryana has been deprived of its share of water for 50 years. We are not begging, rather we are fighting for our right. Our purpose is not to cause inconvenience to people but to awake the Centre to get the SYl canal constructed.”