Villagers end hunger strike after being assured safe water

Kapurthala, July 5 (UNI) The residents of nine villages called off their 32-day old hunger strike after the administration assured the supply of safe drinking water to the villages adversely affected due to the water and air pollution caused by the industry.

They called off the strike after an agreement was reached between the district administration, the villagers and the management of a distillery at Hamira to check the pollution caused by the industry.

Hamira Distillery CEO Vijay Kapoor and manager J K Sharma yesterday assured the administration to supply safe drinking water in the affected villages, Deputy Commissioner Raminder Singh here said.

Stating that he had asked the officials concerned to identify the affected villages, the deputy commissioner added that Hamira Distillery had already installed submersible pumps in the affected villages.

The deputy commissioner had yesterday successfully convened a meeting where the agreement was reached between the villagers and the distillery owners for safe drinking water supply to the villages adversely affected by the industrial pollution.

Later the DC went to the site in the district courts complex where the agitators were on hunger strike for the past over one month and offered them a glass of juice to end their agitation.

UNI XC DH VP0442