Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers set to block Delhi-Jaipur highway

In Uttar Pradesh, the Tikait faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union is making plans to besiege toll barriers. “We will picket the toll plazas, so that the cess cannot be collected tomorrow. We will not block the road, but we will allow commuters to go through for free for one day,” said Dharmendra Malik, spokesperson of BKU (Tikait). More than 5,000 police personnel have been deployed at several intersections and toll barriers in Haryana districts bordering Delhi. Two thousand police personnel have been deployed at five strategic points, including at the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal intersection near Panchgaon, to prevent the agitating farmers from blocking the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, said Astha Modi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Gurugram. The police are also ready with a diversion plan to avoid any inconvenience to commuters, she added. Additional police forces were also deployed at the Kherki Daula toll plaza, one of the busiest in the country. Farmer unions are seeking support from local farmers in Sohna and Rewari to set up blockades, said Ms. Modi. The Faridabad Police have deployed 3,500 police personnel equipped with riot equipment to deal with any situation, said Arpit Jain, DCP, Headquarters. Reserve Police Force personnel have also been deployed at five tolls in the city at the Badarpur border, Gurugram-Faridabad border, KGP toll plaza, Pali Crusher Zone and Dhoj. The police said drones would also be used to keep a watch on anti-social elements and identify them. In Amritsar, thousands of farmers and farm labourers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Samiti started a tractor-trolley ‘march’ for Delhi on Friday to ensure the ongoing agitation doesn’t lose steam. “Thousands of farmers and labourers from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Ferozpur, Fazilka, Jalandhar and Moga districts are on the move,” Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab unit of the Samiti, told The Hindu . The Congress also plans to hold demonstrations at the ‘Shambu border’ on December 14 in support of the farmers, said the party’s State chief Sunil Jakhar. (With inputs from Vikas Vasudeva in Chandigarh, Ashok Kumar in Gurugram and Priscilla Jebaraj in New Delhi)

The Hindu

2020-12-12

December 12 2020 00:00 IST