Isolated protests keep Delhi-NCR on alert, hit traffic

With farmers calling for the resumption of ‘Delhi Chalo’ campaign on Wednesday, heightened security measures and stricter vehicular checking at all border points that the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan share with Delhi gave rise to chaos on arterial roads in the morning, with every single stretch witnessing long tailbacks and snarls.

Meanwhile, the standoff between the police and farmer groups led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (non political) and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Morcha (KMM) continued for the ninth day at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana.

Haryana Police said they received information that farmers from Rajasthan had entered Manesar through Rewari and Tauru and were trying to cross over to the national capital.

Police said hundreds of farmers, who had gathered to march towards Delhi, were stopped in Manesar. Farmers continued to protest in Manesar till late evening and said they have postponed their plans to march to Delhi owing to the police action.

Moti Lal, a farmer leader, said, “We will keep trying (to enter Delhi) but till then, we will sit on protest and support our brothers.”

Vehicular traffic was disrupted for an hour on the Delhi-Gurugram border in Sirhaul on Wednesday morning as police stopped each vehicle to check if they were ferrying farmers.

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Pradeep Nehra, a daily commuter to Delhi, said he got stuck in a jam on the way from Cyber City to Rajokri in Delhi. “Only one lane was open at Sirhaul and vehicles had to cross the border one by one. It took me more than 40 minutes just to cross the Sirhaul border,” he said.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said, “Traffic congestion was reported during peak hours in the morning as the teams were checking all vehicles. We had to ensure that no farmer crossed the border,” he said.

The police were also checking vehicles on various roads leading to Delhi, Faridabad, Nuh, Jhajjar and Rajasthan.

Low-key protests in Ghaziabad, western UP

Farmer groups in Ghaziabad and western Uttar Pradesh (UP) also staged protests on Wednesday in support of farmers in Shambu.

Under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), farmers arrived at the Ghaziabad district headquarters on Wednesday and staged a protest pressing for their demands that included a law on the minimum support price (MSP).

The protest call for Wednesday was given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farm unions that had led 2020-21 farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders.

“The protest was peaceful and we handed over a memorandum to the district officials. Similar protests were carried on in different districts of UP,” said Shamsher Rana, media coordinator of BKU.

Nimish Patil, deputy commissioner of police (trans-Hindon), said the deployment at the UP Gate border with Delhi, near Ghazipur, remains in place and “checks by the Delhi Police slowed down traffic on Delhi-Meerut Expressway. No farmer turned up to protest at UP Gate”.

The different farmer leaders are of the view that they need to scale up protests and more unions are expected to ultimately join the protests currently led by SKM (non political) and KMM.

Farmers march to GB Nagar collectorate

Farmers in Gautam Budh Nagar marched to the district collectorate in Greater Noida on Wednesday and handed over their list of demands to the administration officials, leading to long snarls near the collectorate. Gridlocks were also seen on roads to Delhi owing to heightened vehicular checking, said traffic police.

“The snarls happened because of heightened checking on the Delhi side. However, we have not imposed any restrictions or diversions yet. People should plan their journey after checking traffic updates,” said Anil Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

Evening peak hour saw snarls on the Dadri Bypass Road, GT Road and NTPC exit in Greater Noida even as farmers dispersed after their meeting with the district officials.

The farmers from Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) also held a meeting with district magistrate Manish Verma to raise local concerns of farmers. Among other demands, farmers also sought higher compensation for their land acquired in the past and developed plots to be given in lieu of the acquired land.

Tractor marches in west UP

In a show of solidarity with the farmers of Punjab and Haryana, protesting at Shambu border for the last nine days, farmers took out tractor marches in several districts of western Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

While Rakesh Tikait, BKU leader, led the tractor march in Meerut, BKU chief Naresh Tikait led the demonstration in Muzaffarnagar.

They reached the collectorates of their respective districts and staged dharnas before handing over memorandums to officials with their demands.

Addressing the gathering at Meerut collectorate, Rakesh said the BJP government prioritises entrepreneurs over farmers. He emphasised that if there were a government representing farmers’ interests, a law guaranteeing MSP would have been enacted by now.

“Further strategies will be decided in a meeting of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on Thursday,” he said.

Similar tractor marches were organised in Saharanpur, Hapur, Bulandshahar, Amroha, Sambhal, Bijnor, Shamli, Bagpat, and other districts of western UP.