Chandigarh: Several farmer bodies in Punjab refused to lift sit-ins at toll plazas in protest against “unreasonable” hike in toll fee.
Earlier, farmer had announced to lift the protest from toll plazas, petrol pumps, shopping malls, and residences of BJP leaders, from December 15.
The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) asked toll plazas until the companies lower the passage fee. The rates have gone up lately as annual revision based on the wholesale price index. The other protest sites were vacated after 441 days.
Punjab has 25 toll plazas on the national highways and daily collections before the start of the blockades on October 1, 2020, was about Rs 3 crore. “We don’t want people to bear the burden of farmers’ agitation,” said BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan. The BKU will raise the issue in a meeting with Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday and then have a state-level meeting on in on December 17.