Mohali, January 4
Long queues of vehicles and jam-like situations are prevailing near the Shambhu barrier on the Delhi-Amritsar National Highway due to a protest by the truck union for the past one week.
The Ambala-Chandigarh National Highway too has been clogged on the Lehli-Banur, Sarsini-Basma stretch along with link roads to 12 other villages.
Vehicles move at a snail’s pace, while ambulances can be seen struck at several places on these roads. Most of the vehicles going towards Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Rajpura are being diverted on the Ambala-Chandigarh National Highway leading to chaotic situation. All link roads from Lalru and Lehli towards Banur-Rajpura are clogged with heavy vehicular movement. The situation worsens when Lehli railway gate is closed.
The protesting truckers are demanding restoration of unions that were dissolved by the Congress government in 2017. The union members said they were in dire straits as there were no official rates and the annual hike of 5-6 per cent was also not being implemented. In December 2021, the truckers had launched state-wide protests and blocked several roads in the state, including Mohali, for around two weeks.
