Farmers Movement Archive

Ghaziabad: Residents protest to press demand for opening national highway 9

Hundreds of residents in Indirapuram staged a protest adjacent to national highway 9 on Sunday and demanded that the Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageway, which has been shut for about a year due to the farmers’ protest, be opened for movement of vehicles. Police said the protestors wanted to form a human chain opposite to the farmers’ protest site at the UP Gate but were not granted permission for the same. Residents of many high-rises gathered near Amrapali Village high-rise, about 2km from the farmers’ protest site, with placards that bore requests to farmers to clear up the carriageway and ease commuting for thousands of commuters. Police officers and personnel prevented the protestors from venturing anywhere near the farmers’ protest site. The carriageway and the UP Gate area have been occupied by farmers, who are camping here in tents since November 28 last year, to press their demand for the rollback of the three farm laws and a new law on minimum support price (MSP). Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing on November 19 that the three farm laws will be repealed, farmers have refused to withdraw from the protest site. Farmer leaders have reiterated that the farm protests will continue till the government came out with a new law on MSP and fulfil their other demands that they have listed in an open letter written to the PM. “People are fed up with the developments. It seems that farmer protests will continue and it will again prolong opening of the road. Every authority in the country knows about the issues commuters face due to road closure but no one is doing anything,” said Alok Kumar, founder member of Federation of Association of Apartment Owners. “The police stopped us from moving near the farmers’ protest site but the day is not far when more citizens will try to move there given the problems they are facing due to road closure. We demand that the authorities open at least one lane between Ghaziabad and Delhi so that commuting becomes easy,” he added. “It has been a troublesome one year. Due to road closure, commuters are left with no choice but to start about 40-45 minutes early from their homes to reach their offices on time. Even students and those going to hospitals in Delhi face issues while commuting. For the past one year, commuters are having to bypass the UP Gate and forced to use the Hindon canal road, Kaushambi border or Noida’s Sector 62 area to reach Delhi,” said Deepak Kumar, president of Amrapali Village apartment owners’ association. “The issue is between the government and the farmers but common man is suffering due to no fault of theirs. No one is listening to the plight,” he added. Protesters also submitted a memorandum to the police and demanded immediate opening of the road. In the memorandum, residents said the highway is the lifeline for commuters and thousands of them from different localities such as Kaushambi, Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Raj Nagar Extension and Khoda among others, have been affected. According to official estimates, about 60,000 passenger car units ply on the UP Gate stretch per day. “The protesters submitted a memorandum, which will be forwarded to the respective authorities. We did not allow them to proceed near the UP Gate area as it may have caused law and order problems,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2). Farmer leaders said they have their sympathies for the residents who are facing so many issues while commuting. “The government is to blame for all the issues both farmers and the commuters are facing. Residents should forward their demand to the government. We also want speedy resolution of issues faced by farmers so that every farmer goes back home happily,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a farmer leader and a spokesperson of Samyukta Kisan Morcha-- an umbrella body of different farmer unions--at the UP Gate site.

Hindustan Times

28-11-2021

Noida