Farmers Movement Archive

Thousands stuck in 20km-long jam on NH2 as Haryana blocks UP border due to farmers’ stir

AGRA: Thousands of vehicles, including trucks and buses, and commuters remained stranded on the Delhi-Agra NH-2 for almost 20 hours since Friday night, after Haryana Police blocked its border with UP at Mathura’s Kotwan due to farmers’ protest in Palwal and Hodal. The border was opened on Saturday evening, giving respite to the stranded commuters. Mathura superintendent of police (rural) Shrish Chandra told TOI that the vehicles remained mainly stranded on three roads to Haryana since Friday night. “Though we had diverted many vehicles to Yamuna Expressway to clear the traffic, it smoothened only after Haryana Police opened the border in the evening,” he said. A group of farmers staged protest at Maant toll plaza on Yamuna Expressway after being stopped by the police from heading to Delhi. They blocked the toll gate for hours. Police have been closing routes on national highways, as protesting farmers continued to camp on roads demanding withdrawal of the Centre’s new farm laws and stayed put at the national capital’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Satyendra Singh, a truck driver going from Mathura refinery to Bhatinda, said that he had been stuck in the traffic since 8 pm on Friday night. “Traffic has backed up for several kilometres and I don’t know when we would be able to move from here,” he said. “I support the farmers but being stranded on a highway is an ordeal for people like us, who have no option except to wait for hours for traffic to clear,” he said. Mahesh Goswami, who has a wedding in the family and was headed to Delhi to extend the invitation to friends and family, said he has been waiting on NH-2 for the past three hours. “There was no announcement about sealing of the border. Now, we are stuck here as the jam is about 20 kilometres long,” Goswami said, adding that he supports farmers' agitation but “the common man should not be made to suffer due to such protests”. Another commuter, Subodh Kumar, who was travelling from Agra to Delhi to visit a patient in the national capital, said that the government should resolve the issue with the farmers at the earliest and save the “anna data” (the food growers). Mathura SSP Gaurav Grover said that the border was opened after they requested the Haryana Police to clear the traffic "as many trucks carrying perishable items were stranded in the jam".

The Times of India

2020-12-06

Agra