Farmers Movement Archive

Barricades removed at Tikri border

Jhajjar, October 28Two days after a committee of senior officials visited the Tikri border, the work to remove the barricades on the border was started on Thursday evening.Also read: Farmers have right to protest but they can’t block roads indefinitely: Supreme CourtBarricades put up by Delhi Police, not farmers: BKU after SC order to unblock roadsThe Delhi police had blocked the National Highway-9 (Rohtak-Delhi) at Tikri by doing multi-layered barricading on the border around 11 months ago.Cement barriers yet to goFour out of the eight layers of barricades at the Tikri border have been removed. However, the cement barricades are still there and the road remains closed for commuters, an official said.Sources said a JCB machine had been used to demolish concrete barricades, while the number of Delhi police and paramilitary forces deputed on the border had also been reduced. The barricade removal work is likely to continue all night.Also read: Police start removing barricades at Ghazipur farmers’ protest siteFarmers have been staying put on the one side of the highway in Bahadurgarh town. The official panel, after visiting the Tikri border, also expressed the possibility of opening one side of the highway after talking to the Delhi police.The move comes days after a Supreme Court hearing that saw farmer unions arguing that the police were responsible for the blockade at the Delhi borders.The police had put multiple layers of barricades on the roads, complete with giant nails and huge concrete blocks as thousands of farmers had tried to cross Delhi borders in November last year.Four out of the eight layers of barricades at the Tikri border have been removed.However, the cement barricades are still there and the road remains closed for commuters, an officer said.In videos doing the rounds on social media, JCB machines were seen removing blockades at the Tikri border.Sources in the Delhi Police said that such exercise is likely to be launched at Singhu and Ghazipur border points in the coming days.Thousands of farmers have been camping at the three borders points, Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, protesting the Centre’s three farm laws since November 26, 2020.About the removal of blockades at the Tikri Border on Thursday night, a senior police officer said some layers of barricades that were placed by the police have been removed.“The arrangement at the Tikri border in terms of infrastructure has been reduced. Seven to eight layers of different types of barricades were placed earlier and we have removed some of them,” the officer said.This is done as a move to open the road for traffic soon, he said. “At present, there is no traffic flow as the roads are closed. Barricades will be completely removed soon to slowly ease the flow of traffic,” the officer added.(With PTI inputs)

The Tribune

2021-10-29