Farmers Movement Archive

Commuters in farm’s way as Bharat Bandh halts traffic in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi-Meerut Expressway was out of bounds for 10 hours from 6am on Monday as hundreds of farmers laid siege to both the carriageways to mark Bharat Bandh. At UP Gate, the lanes leading to Delhi have remained blocked ever since the agitation began 10 months ago. On Monday, a group of 300-odd farmers placed barricades on the lanes exiting Delhi and blocked traffic till 4pm. Police officers in Delhi and Ghaziabad had both prepared a traffic diversion plan in the wake of Monday’s bandh. While vehicles coming from Delhi were diverted towards the Ghazipur mandi along the canal road, those headed for the capital were made to take the Kaushambi and Anand Vihar routes. But as the entire expressway traffic was diverted on to the arterial roads, snarls were witnessed inside Ghaziabad city as well. Areas such as Indirapuram, Dabur Chowk, Maharajpur and the EDM Mall junction witnessed snarls for as long as three hours. Delhi resident Rohit Singh, who had stayed the night at a friend’s place in Vasundhara, was stuck in a snarl for hours while getting back home. “I had to take the Kaushambi route, which was choked. It took me 45 minutes just to get into Delhi,” he said. Protests were also held at Duhai, Hapur Chungi and Modinagar. “Traffic from Hapur Chungi was diverted through Shastri Nagar, which is an arterial road. There were snarls throughout the day,” said Shivangi Mishra of Shastri Nagar. In Ghaziabad, 200 cops had been deployed at various junctions to manage diversions. “It was only in the latter half of the day that the congestion eased. But it was tough managing traffic during rush hours. We had deployed all our reserve forces on the city’s roads,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, SP (traffic). Inside Ghaziabad city, however, it was business as usual. Most shops and commercial establishments were open and people went about their work. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, who has been leading the agitation at UP Gate since November last year, said the bandh was successful. “There were attempts to discredit the farmers' agitation. But the support we got from the common man is for everyone to see. The Bharat Bandh was successful across the country,” he added. In Greater Noida, hundreds of farmers on tractors and other vehicles moved towards the Zero Point and Pari Chowk. Stopped at the Jewar toll plaza, they occupied several lanes and stalled traffic. The blockade was, however, lifted soon. Snarls were also reported on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway for around two hours. At Pari Chowk, a group of farmers protested for over an hour before some of them headed towards the Yamuna Authority’s office to discuss problems related to enhanced compensation, plots and employment to local youths. Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey said, “The farmers were stopped near Galgotias University and talks were held with them.” On the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) Flyway, the line of vehicles grew longer at the border as Delhi cops resorted to strict checking. As complaints poured in, traffic police officers in Noida urged their counterparts in Delhi to ease the checking a bit and allow vehicles. The snarls eased somewhat around 10.30am. Apart from the DME at Ghazipur, Delhi Police had blocked the Dhansa border and some internal roads leading to the Red Fort. At the Rajokri toll plaza, there were reports of snarls that stretched up to a kilometre around 10 am. GhazipurA central government employee travelling from Noida to near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium battled slow traffic on the DND. “I left home early today. But traffic was extremely slow on the DND. Police had been deployed in good numbers, but better traffic management could have eased the situation,” he said. Businessman Prashant Sonkar spent an hour on DND itself. The effect of the bandh on traffic was felt till the Akshardham temple. On Monday, Delhi Police had significantly increased check points across the city. Roads around the Red Fort were closed for traffic and the site fortified to prevent a repeat of the January 26 incident when farmers had climbed atop the Fort’s rampart. “Traffic movement was closed on Red Fort on both the carriageways Chhatta Rail and Subhash Marg are closed from both sides… Traffic movement is closed on Dhansa Border Both Carriageways (sic),” Delhi Police tweeted. Traffic Alert Traffic movement is closed on Red Fort Both the carriageways Chhatta Rail and Subhash Marg are closed from both sides.— Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) 1632717979000

The Times of India

2021-09-28

Delhi