Farmers Start Seven-day Protest At Chandigarh-Mohali Border To Press For Their Demands
Their leaders said that a special session of the Punjab Assembly should be called to cancel the old agreements related to Punjab's waters.
Published : September 1, 2026 at 9:50 PM IST
Chandigarh: Farmers of Punjab on Tuesday started a week-long protest at Chandigarh-Mohali border from September 1 to 7 to press their long-pending demands.
This protest, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, was organised in Sector 48-49 and Airport Road area near the Chandigarh-Mohali border. The farmers' organisations have made Punjab's river waters one of their main demands. Their leaders said that a special session of the Punjab Assembly should be called to cancel the old agreements related to Punjab's waters. Along with this, they demanded that Punjab's share in the Bhakra Beas Management Board be restored and the Dam Safety Act be repealed.
"We, an alliance of 32 farmers' organisations, have taken this decision because we have been raising these demands for a long time. We have submitted memorandums to the Governor, Chief Minister, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Deputy Commissioner," said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, senior leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU Lakhowal).
"We had raised the same issues two-three years ago. They agreed to some demands but failed to implement them, especially regarding water. The Punjab government can argue that it is not their responsibility that the Centre has to handle this. We want them to oppose it by calling a special session in the Assembly. They should demand cancellation of the previous water agreements. After all, 25 years have passed," added Lakhowal.
The second major demand of farmers is legal guarantee of minimum support price for all crops. The organisations demanded that the prices of crops be fixed as per the recommendations of Dr M S Swaminathan Commission and that the government ensure their legal procurement. The demand for increasing the price of sugarcane to Rs 500 per quintal was also raised.
The farm organisations demanded the waiver of the loans of farmers and labourers. Apart from this, demands for pension for rural labourers and changes in policies related to agriculture were also raised.
The demand for making changes in Punjab's land pooling policy was also on the farmers' agenda. They expressed concern about the free trade agreements to be signed with the US and other countries. They argued that such agreements could have a direct impact on Indian agriculture, crop prices and farmers' income.
"As far as the Centre's MSP (Minimum Support Price) for 22 crops is concerned, we are demanding a legal guarantee for it. Secondly, if corporate loans worth lakhs of crores can be waived off, then why not ours? We are demanding implementation of a proper crop insurance scheme," said Lakhowal.
A total of 32 farmer organisations from Punjab are said to be involved in the Samyukta Kisan Morcha. These include several organisations like BKU Rajewal, BKU Dakounda, Kirti Kisan Union, BKU Shadipur and Punjab Kisan Union.
Various leaders, including farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, were leading the morcha.
A mobilisation was already done in the villages of Punjab for the march. Groups of farmers from many districts left for Chandigarh with tractor-trolleys. According to sources, some farmers arrived by trains and buses while ration was sent from many places along with the farmers in tractor-trolleys for the march.
Preparations were made to send a large group from Kapurthala on September 3 while farmers from many areas, including Morinda, will join the march in convoys. After a meeting between the farmer leaders and the police-administration, a place was decided for the march on the Airport Road from the Chandigarh border to Bestack Mall on one side of the road. The administration had assured to make arrangements for drinking water, sanitation, mobile toilets and smooth traffic.
Routes were fixed from different areas for farmers joining the march. Farmers coming from Jalandhar-Ludhiana were asked to go towards Airport Road via Gopal Sweets Chowk after Kharar. For those coming from Sirhind side, the route to Airport Road via Landran Chowk and Gurdwara Sohana Sahib was fixed while farmers coming from Rajpura side were given a route to come towards Airport Road via Chhatbir.
Traffic management in Mohali and Chandigarh became a major challenge due to the farmers' protest. The police issued an advisory to close the road from IISER Chowk to Chandigarh via Besteck Mall, Phase 11 and Jagatpura for September 1. The Chandigarh Police also diverted the traffic on the eastern route coming to Chandigarh through the Faidaan barrier. Restrictions were imposed on the internal roads of Sector 48-49 from Sector 48 Light Point and the traffic going to Chandigarh from Sector 49/50.
The Mohali police advised the general public to use alternative routes to go from IISER Chowk to Chandigarh. These include the routes from Landran Road-Sector 82/83 Road to Jagatpura, Airport Road-IT City/Aerocity to Jagatpura and from Phase-9 to Jagatpura via Sector 66/68 Road.
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