A protest started in Ludhiana regarding Budha Nala took a violent turn on Tuesday. Thousands of people reached to close Budha Nala on the call of social worker Lakha Sidhana. However, to avoid any kind of dispute between the protesters and the dyeing industries, a heavy police force was deployed by the police administration.
On Tuesday afternoon, people moving towards Ludhiana Budha Nala were stopped outside Punjab Agricultural University on the Ferozepur highway. Talks are going on between the protesters and the police administration.
After the police detained the protesters, other protesters have blocked the Ludhiana-Ferozepur highway. Wherever the protesters are present, the police administration has installed jammers so that the mobile network does not work.
Earlier, the police had taken Titu Bania of Ludhiana into custody. Apart from Titu, Roman Barad of Ferozepur, Mohinder Singh of Moga, one person from Faridkot and half a dozen other people were also taken into custody.
Ludhiana Budha Nala Conflict
A few days ago, Lakha Sidhana had called for a protest by calling for the closure of Budha Nala. People associated with the dry industry had also talked about a protest. As a result, Lakha Sidhana and many of his companions were reaching to close Budha Nala. Lakha Sidhana has been taken into custody by the police. In Jagraon, his companion Sukh Jagraon has also been taken into custody by the police.
Protest under the banner of 'Kala Paani The Morcha'
Kala Paani The Morcha organization has been formed against the cleaning of Budha Nala of Ludhiana and black water, under whose banner around 1500 people from Rajasthan are reaching Ludhiana in Punjab on Tuesday. These people say that the dirt and black chemical water in Ludhiana's Budha Nallah gets mixed in Sutlej and later reaches Rajasthan, drinking which hundreds of people of Rajasthan have fallen ill.
As a security measure, the police administration has deployed 2 thousand police personnel on the city borders. Every police personnel has also been instructed that if anyone takes the law in their hands, then he should be dealt with strictly.
Furthermore, police have been deployed at all the treatment plants and CETP centers in the city. Police have detained many leaders who were marching towards Ludhiana to protest against the pollution in Budha Nallah. During this, a scuffle broke out between the Police and the protestors due to which the Police had to resort to a Lathi charge. In the scuffle, CIA 3 in-charge Navdeep got injured on the head. Police have detained more than 150 people so far.