Farmers Movement Archive

Get Tikri blockade removed: Industrialists to NHRC

Jhajjar, September 2After getting no response from the state as well as the Centre, industrialists in Bahadurgarh town here have approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for getting the blockade at Tikri border removed.Demand one-way access to highwayWe want at least one side of the highway at Tikri should be opened to ensure easy inter-state movement and smooth operation of industries in Bahadurgarh. industrialistsThey have asked the NHRC to instruct either the Delhi Police or other authorities to open at least one side of the highway at Tikri to ensure easy inter-state movement and smooth operation of industries in Bahadurgarh.“Bahadurgarh has around 9,000 micro, medium and large companies and industrial units, including footwear, automobile, spare parts, packing and industrial manufacturing etc, which collectively provide livelihood to over 7.5 lakh people directly and indirectly. These have so far suffered a total turnover loss of Rs 20,000 crore in the past nine months due to the sealing of the Tikri border,” said Narinder Chhikara, senior vice-president, Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI).He said the blockade had hit industries hard as over 2,000 units were either completely shut or going to close. Most of the unit owners hailed from Delhi and staff also came from there, hence the industries were dependent largely on the national capital for the supply of raw materials and also for the sale of the finished goods.“Due to the blockade, owners and workers come to Bahadurgarh via narrow/broken roads in nearby villages, which takes at least two hours in place of normal time of five minutes to cross the border and reach the workplace. Moreover, ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and other people have been facing a lot of difficulties in commuting, leading to adverse effects on our interests,” said Chhikara.He said the border had been sealed by the Delhi police and they had several times requested it to open one side of the road. Even, the Chamber had written to the state as well as the Central governments, but to no avail.

The Tribune

2021-09-03