Farmers Movement Archive

Singhu border: Blankets, quilts gone, coolers & fans in

NEW DELHI: From coolers to fans to refrigerators, farmers at Singhu border are preparing to face the heat of Delhi’s summer. As winter departs, so do the quilts and blankets. In their place have come fans and coolers, all run from the power solar power — and also surreptitiously from nearby electricity poles. Hakam Singh, a 70-year-old villager from Fatehgargh Sahib, spends his afternoon lazing on the charpoy with a big table fan keeping him cool. He has the fan, but as the temperature rose, Hakam and his fellow cooks realised that they needed cooling for the leftover food and curd. “It was then that one of the farmers got a fridge from home. Now we can use it through the summer and even provide cold water to the protestors,” said the septuagenarian. Some like Rajinder Singh of Ropar are using the solar panels on their tractors to run the coolers on the trolleys. “We have got a few coolers from home and we are using solar power because we don’t want to steal power from the poles,” said Rajinder. The Ropar farmer and his fellow villagers have also got a refrigerator “for cold water to drink when we feel thirsty cooking in the heat”. Knowing full well the rigours of the Indian summer, Sukhwinder Singh of Jalandhar and his friends have made small tents and have equipped them with mosquito nets. “We will have a plastic door and cover every nook and corner of the tent with the nets. We will also install a few coolers, like the fans we already have. The plan is to get air-conditioners and generators to run them from home,” said the Sikh from Jalandhar. While a number of ice-cream carts have congregated at Singhu, Surjeet Singh, a 32-year-old from Panipat, showing an adroit business mind, has decided to bring and sell sunglasses to the protesting farmers. “I have been here for over two months and have been selling items like nail-cutters, combs and other essentials. Lately, there has been a demand for black goggles to cope with the harsh sun,” Surjeet smiled.

The Times of India

2021-03-13

Delhi