Farmers Movement Archive

Petrol pumps, shops at Tikri reopen after 1 year

Jitendra Bhardwaj, a daily passenger from Rohtak to Delhi, was delighted to drive his car through the Tikri border for the first time in the past year. He had eagerly been waiting for the opening of the border for a long time to avoid long and bumpy drives on alternative routes to reach his destination.Not only Jitendra but also several other commuters felt relieved when they crossed the border to enter the national capital on Sunday.The reopening has also brought cheer to local industrialists whose production was badly affected by the closure of the border due to non-availability of work and rising cost of transportation due to long routes. Located on NH-9 (Rohtak-Delhi), Tikri border was fully opened today for four-wheelers after over a year. The work of removing concrete barricades, which started yesterday, ended this morning, paving the way for plying of four-wheelers. The border was partially opened only for two-wheelers, pedestrians and ambulances on October 30.“Before allowing four-wheelers, we ensured cleanliness of the highway. Thousands of vehicles passed through the border daily before the farmers’ protest,” said a policeman on duty at the border.Darshan Singh, manager at a petrol pump, said the development had also paved the way for reopening of several shops and other business establishments, including five petrol pumps, at the border. “All these shops had been lying closed for the past year. Today, their owners opened the shops and carried out cleaning,” he added.As per the Tikri Border Petrol Pump Association, the five pumps had suffered Rs 6.5 crore loss in one year and 80 employees had lost job. — TNS

The Tribune

2021-12-13

Jhajjar