Farmers agitate for power, fertiliser
Highway blocked for hours
Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
Hundreds of vehicles, including that of a state minister, were stuck for hours along the Dhaka-Rangpur-Dinajpur Highway yesterday as the farmers agitating for power and fertiliser put barricades on the road. Sources said, at least 5,000 farmers of Dinajpur Sadar upazila brought out a procession in the morning demanding power and fertiliser. Later the procession marched towards the Bankali Palli Bidyut Samity under the third Fazilpur village sub-power grid and laid siege to the power station for four hours. They also barricaded the nearby Dhaka-Dinajpur-Rangpur Highway. A vehicle carrying State Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who was on his way to Thakurgaon from Syedpur Airport, also got stuck on the highway along with other vehicles. On information, administrative officials of Thakurgaon and Dinajpur as well as the police rushed to the spot. At around 2:00pm, the angry farmers agreed to lift the siege and remove the barricades as the administrative officials promised them fertiliser. Palli Bidyut officials also assured them of three to eight hours of power supply every day during the peak hours.
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