Farmers seeking hike in cane prices block rails, roads in Punjab
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Farmers seeking a hike in sugarcane prices blocked rail tracks and a national highway in Jalandhar on Saturday. As many as 50 trains were cancelled, and 54 others were either diverted or short-terminated as protesting farmers refused to lift the blockade until their demands were met. Emergency vehicles were, however, allowed to pass.
The farmers blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the national highway near Dhanowali village of Jalandhar district, effectively affecting traffic to and from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pathankot. Farmers on the Jalandhar-Chaheru section blocked the Ludhiana-Amritsar and the Ludhiana-Jammu rail tracks in Jalandhar, disrupting trains to Delhi.
Farmers launched the indefinite agitation on Friday, pressing the Punjab government to accept their demands on pending dues for sugarcane and hike in cane prices. They demand that the government raise their state assured price (SAP) of sugarcane and clear payment of arrears to the tune of Rs 200-250 crores.