Farmers Movement Archive

‘Disgruntled’ farmers block traffic, occupy expressways across Gautam Budh Nagar

Vehicular movement was affected on the Greater Noida-Noida side of the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway from 12pm to 5pm on Monday as Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait), or BKU-Tikait, members blocked the highway in protest. The traffic police had to divert vehicles to the service lane of the expressway.Around 500 farmers on several tractors and cars, and on foot marched from Zero Point on Yamuna Expressway to Chilla border in Noida. Later, 200 farmers also sat on protest outside the Noida Authority office, said police. Sunil Pradhan, BKU-Tikait media in-charge, Gautam Budh Nagar, said that the farmers’ union organised a massive protest on Monday. “We have several demands, including employment for farmers’ children, education, healthcare facilities, increased compensation, developed plots to farmers whose land was acquired, etc. We have organised protests in the past too, but the officials just give us assurances and do not find a concrete solution,” he said.Farmers are disgruntled with the Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development authorities, which have acquired around 80,000 hectares of land from farmers for developmental purposes since 1976. Noida, established in 1976, acquired around 20,000 ha, Greater Noida, set up in 1992, acquired 38,000 ha and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida), established in 2002, acquired around 20,000 ha for various projects, including the airport at Jewar. The three authorities still need to acquire more land for developmental works such as basic infrastructure, industrial usage and residential usage. Meanwhile, farmers have been protesting against the Noida authority for the past 47 days, alleging that their needs have been ignored during the development of the industrial towns. On Monday, farmers from Yamuna authority villages also joined the protest and blocked traffic in Sector 6 and other parts of the district. “We demand 10% of residential land for our families against the total land acquired by the authorities , 64% more money than what we have got so far, old abadi settlements in villages, unregulated construction in villages and corruption-free work in government offices,” said Sukhbir Yadav, a farmer leader who has been protesting for the last 47 days.Ganesh Saha, deputy commissioner of police, (traffic) Gautam Budh Nagar, said that traffic was diverted to the service lane of the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway due to the protest. “The farmers later reached Chilla border and protested for 15 minutes. We diverted Delhi-bound traffic to the DND Flyway,” he said. He said the farmers left the spot at 5pm and went to the Noida Authority office. Pranjal Kumar, a commuter, said that he was caught in a traffic jam on the expressway for half-an-hour in the afternoon. “The traffic police should have alerted the commuters in advance about such a protest,” he said.The farmers’ protest exacerbated the problem caused by rain, construction work on the underpass, and some potholes on the expressway near Sector 150, the DCP said, adding that traffic on the expressway had been slow since the morning. “The Noida Authority is developing an underpass at Sector 150. The construction work had made the road rough. Vehicles were moving slowly at the spot,” the DCP said.A senior manager of Noida Authority, who requested not to be named, said due to construction work one carriageway of the expressway was blocked. “Due to rain, the road on the other carriageway had become rough. We repaired the road and vehicular movement resumed at 9.30am,” he said.Later in the day, a farmers’ group also reached Dankaur railway station and claimed to have halted a Delhi-Howrah train. However, Arvind Pathak, station house officer, Dankaur police station, said the train had halted as it did not get a green signal. “The farmers reached there and captured some photos. The police soon asked them to leave,” he said.Top officials of the Noida, Greater Noida authorities and Yeida met with the farmers around 7pm at the Noida Authority’s main administrative building in Sector 6 and discussed their issues. Farmers said they have demanded written assurances from the officials.“We are discussing all their issues and taking appropriate action so that their issues can be addressed as per the law,” said Indu Prakash Singh, officer on special duty of the Noida authority and in-charge of farmers’ issues.Later at night, farmers said the talks failed to yield results. Farmers continued to sit at the authority office late into the night and said they will continue the agitation till their demands are accepted.

Hindustan Times

18-10-2021

Noida