INLD activists drive towards Punjab for SYL digging

Chandigarh: As authorities in Punjab and Haryana sealed the inter-state border, thousands of INLD supporters headed from Haryana`s Ambala city towards the border on Thursday afternoon to dig the SYL canal at the party's call.

Riding tractor-trolleys, minitrucks and other vehicles, the supporters of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) -- the opposition party in Haryana -- headed towards the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab, about 10 km from Ambala.

INLD's Haryana unit President Ashok Arora drove one of the tractor-trolleys carrying INLD Secretary General Abhay Chautala, who had given the call for the digging the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. 

At the Shambhu barrier, the cross-border point between Punjab and Haryana, hundreds of police of both Punjab and Haryana and paramilitary forces remained on high alert to stop the INLD supporters from entering Punjab.

Security forces donned anti-riot gear and were equipped with riot-control vehicles and other equipment.

The entire stretch of National Highway No.1 between Ambala in Haryana and Rajpura in Punjab was sealed by security forces in both the states since morning in the wake of the INLD protest.

Thousands of people, especially motorists, moving inter-state faced inconvenience on Thursday because the busy highway that links Delhi with Amritsar was sealed. Traffic was diverted via other routes, a Punjab Police officer said.

The NH-1 is taken daily by thousands of motorists to commute between Punjab and Delhi through Haryana.

"I have already walked for three km to proceed to Ambala. I don`t know if we will get any transport ahead," said Surjit Kaur, who works in Ambala and travels from her village near Rajpura town in Punjab.

Border areas in Ambala and Patiala districts, in Haryana and Punjab respectively, were on high alert.

"We have made adequate security arrangements. No activists will be allowed to enter Punjab," Patiala Range Deputy Inspector General Ashish Chaudhary said at the Shambhu barrier.

The situation along the border was also being kept under a watch from the air by a Punjab government helicopter and several drones.

The INLD activists and leaders had earlier gathered at the Subzi Mandi Ground in Ambala before moving towards Punjab.

Haryana Director General of Police K.P. Singh said the state police were prepared to handle the situation.

Following a Presidential Reference, the Supreme Court on November 10, 2016, held as "unconstitutional" the passage of the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Bill, 2004, by the Punjab assembly.

The legislation terminated all water-sharing agreements between Punjab and its neighbouring states, thereby jeopardising the construction of the SYL canal that would also irrigate farm lands in Haryana.