Farmers Movement Archive

Haryana to seal its borders to stop farmers marching towards Delhi

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said that the state government has decided to seal the Haryana-Punjab border from November 25 to 27 in view of the proposed call of ‘Delhi Chalo’ given by the farmers.RAF deployedLater in the evening, the Union home ministry also deputed three companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) in the state to handle the law-and-order situation. While one RAF company will be deployed with Ambala police range, two companies will be deployed with the Hisar police range by Wednesday.As per information, the state government had asked for five RAF companies but got only three. If the Centre agrees to deployment of two additional RAF companies, one each will be deployed in Ambala police range and Sonepat district, said an official.Traffic diversionsThe Haryana Police has also put in place traffic diversions on four major national highways leading to the national capital. Additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Navdeep Singh Virk said that traffic will be diverted or road blockages put up on Ambala-Delhi, Hisar-Delhi, Rewari-Delhi and Palwal-Delhi national highways on November 25, 26 and 27. Chief secretary Vijai Vardhan, who presided over a review meeting with divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Ambala, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Panchkula, directed the officials to set up multi-layer barricading on highways leading to Haryana. Vardhan said videography of farmer groups gathered at any place should also be done. He urged the common man to avoid travelling on November 25 and 26 so that they do not have to face any inconvenience.Virk said a large number of protesters are likely to enter Haryana from Punjab through border entry points for onward journey towards Delhi. Apart from this, the focus points of the protesters originating from within Haryana shall be the four major highways leading to Delhi.A call has been given by protesting organisations to gather at Shambhu border in Ambala, Mundhal Chowk in Bhiwani, Anaj Mandi at Gharaunda in Karnal, Tikri border in Jhajjar and Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Rai in Sonepat, where diversions and blockage will be set up, he said.The chief secretary said since more farmers from Punjab were expected to travel towards Delhi, special monitoring should be conducted on Shambhu Border. He also ordered that police patrolling be increased on the five national highways across the state connecting Delhi so as to maintain supplies of essential commodities without any obstruction. In the eventuality of protesters succeeding in blocking roads, traffic should be directed to alternative roads, thus minimising inconvenience to commuters, he added.Diverted routes As per the alternate routes, commuters going towards Chandigarh can take Naraingarh road from Ambala City and reach the destination via Handesra and Barwala. For traffic going towards Patiala and beyond, the route Hissar road-Jamitagrh mod-Ghanour has been decided, Ambala superintendent of police Rajesh Kalia said.

Hindustan Times

25-11-2020

Chandigarh