NEW DELHI/GHAZIABAD: Delhi’s borders at Singhu, Tikri and UP Gate – three vertices of 2020-21 farm agitation – were sealed on Monday and fortified with concrete walls and barbed wires as the spectre of a rerun of farmers’ protest loomed large and police went into overdrive to stop them from entering the capital on Tuesday.
For commuters at UP Gate – busiest of the three borders and main artery to capital’s east – the barricades brought back memories of the yearlong traffic nightmare that unfolded as the Delhi-Meerut Expressway turned into a protest stage for farmers with tents, kitchens and hundreds of tractors on one side of the barricades and heavy police deployment on the other.
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Farmers Protest Live UpdatesIn Chandigarh, late evening talks by Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda with farm leaders to dissuade farmers from their march to Delhi ended in failure as deadlock between two sides over the issue of MSP persisted. The farmer groups were represented by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher in this second round of talks.
Farm leaders said after the talks that ‘Delhi Chalo’ was on as “govt is not taking our demands seriously”. The first round was held last week and didn’t yield any result.
At all three Delhi borders, commuters were forced to take detours with police sealing off the main highway. At UP Gate, the border flyover remained open for traffic at the time of writing this report on Monday night, but sources didn’t rule out complete closure of the border on Tuesday.
“These cement barricades cannot be broken by any truck or tractor,” a Delhi Police personnel standing guard at UP Gate told
TOI on Monday.
A UP Police officer in Ghaziabad said a traffic diversion would be issued if the flyover is closed too. “If both NH-9 (the surface road) and DME are blocked, all vehicles will be diverted to Mayur Vihar Phase 3 via Khora Colony. Vehicles from the Bhojpur and Mohan Nagar side can go to Delhi through Anand Vihar via Kaushambi. Police personnel will be deployed along the routes to help commuters,” the officer said.
Should the diversion kick in, though, it will mean the entire DME traffic taking the more congested city roads or entering Noida from Sector 62, which is certain to lead to congestion in peak hours, making daily commutes much longer.
Parents of kids sitting for board exams will be a particularly worried lot. Aparajita Dasgupta, director of Brahmananda Public School in Noida, said Class X board exams for subjects like painting and languages are scheduled on Feb 15, and security, automobile, tourism, agriculture, data science, etc on Feb 16. “For Class XII, papers like entrepreneurship are scheduled on Feb 15 and biotechnology, electronics technology, shorthand, banking, etc on Feb 16. If the protest happens, students will be affected,” she said.
Delhi Police have imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC for a month starting Tuesday. Around 10,000 cops, including reserve forces, have been deployed at the Singhu, Tikri and UP Gate borders. Police also plan to turn Bawana stadium into a temporary jail, sources said. The prohibitory orders ban organising, convening or participating in any procession, demonstration, rally or march on foot for political, social or any other purpose within the geographical limits of Delhi.
Traffic on the Delhi-Noida borders was slower than usual on Monday because of checks. Police have moved barricades to both Chilla and Kalindi Kunj and are likely to start checks on traffic on Tuesday, which means crossing the border could take longer. “Movement of heavy vehicles will be prohibited on the Noida and Yamuna expressways on Tuesday. Commuters should use metro to avoid inconvenience,” Noida police said in a statement.
Traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon border at Sirhaul was normal on Monday. With Haryana govt taking extensive measures to ensure the protest, should it happen, does not affect Gurgaon, it is unlikely, officials said, that any restrictions will be placed on traffic at Sirhaul, which sees massive traffic volume. Any curbs here would have a cascading effect on traffic all over Gurgaon.
Unlike the mobilisation in Punjab, farmer outfits in west UP are yet to decide on their course of action. It’s the west UP mobilisation that will affect traffic in Ghaziabad and Noida. Sunil Pradhan, spokesperson Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) Tikait group, which was at the heart of the 2020-21 farm agitation, said it has not yet taken a decision on joining the protest. BKU Lokshakti president Shyoraj Singh said his union “extends support to farmers anywhere in the country but we are not in favour of blocking roads”.
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