Ferozepur/Chandigarh, Dec 16 (PTI) With protesters holding an indefinite sit-in against a distillery and ethanol plant in Ferozepur, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday evening held a meeting with a delegation of agitators in Chandigarh to address their issues.
Villagers with the support of some farmer unions have been holding the protest in front of the plant at Mansurwal village in Zira in Ferozepur for the last five months, seeking its closure while claiming that it was polluting underground water in several villages in the area, besides causing air pollution.
The protesters, under the banner of the Sanjha Zira Morcha, have been holding the protest since July 24.
On Thursday, a heavy police force was deployed in the Zira area, fuelling speculation about the use of force by police to evict protesters from the site.
Situation remained tense throughout the day on Friday at Mansurwal village with the deployment of heavy police force.
More than 2,000 police personnel including senior superintendent of police, 13 superintendent of police-rank officers and 28 deputy superintendents of police have been deputed in Zira.
On Thursday night, Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner Amrit Singh had exhorted the protesters to follow the Punjab and Haryana High court order that had directed that protesters should be shifted 300 metres from the present spot.
The high court had earlier imposed a fine of Rs 20 crore on the state government for failing to get the ‘dharna’ lifted after the plant owner moved the high court. The next date of hearing in the matter was on December 20.
The Ferozepur district administration on Friday arranged a meeting with the chief minister after which a delegation of 11-members of the protesters met Bhagwant Mann in Chandigarh.
Following the meeting which lasted over two hours, a representative of the protester said the meeting with the CM was very positive.
He said the chief minister has deputed Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Inspector General of Police Jaskaran Singh who will reach the protest site on Saturday.
The representative claimed that the CM assured if the factory spreads pollution and if it was not set up with the will of the people, then it will be shut.
The decision regarding the continuation of ‘dharna’ will be taken on Saturday after consultation with the other protesters, he said.
However, he did not divulge much about the meeting and said minister Dhaliwal will brief on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Gurmail Singh, Sarpanch of the village Mansurwal said that the administration was putting pressure on them to lift the ‘dharna’.
“We will not tolerate this and if the administration takes some wrong action, we will launch a statewide protest”, said Gurmail, adding that they were fighting for pure drinking water and pure air only which was their right. PTI COR CHS SUN CK
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