New Delhi: Multiple layers of barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails, and shipping containers have been laid out along the Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders to deter farmers who have issued a call for ‘Delhi Chalo’.
Amidst tight security surveillance, people can be seen jumping over the huge barricades and using their phones to click pictures of the heavy traffic, security forces, protesting farmers and media personnel squatting there.
But diversions on account of the protest site at Singhu border have become a problem for those who use this route to travel from Haryana to Delhi each day. “It’s been almost one week, everyone is facing difficulty in commuting, we are also reaching office late because no vehicle can go further, we have to cross the barricade and go on foot,” said Sunita, one such commuter, as she sprinted across the fortified barricade to reach office in time.
Vicky, a 26-year-old resident of a nearby locality, told ThePrint: “Farmers and the Modi government should discuss the issue as soon as possible because only we, the common people, are facing problems because of this.”
Deployment of police and paramilitary forces — including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) — at the protest sites was intensified following the clash between security forces and farmers at Shambhu and Khanauri borders Wednesday.
On Thursday, three Union ministers met with leaders of farmers’ outfits at the helm of the ongoing agitation, in Chandigarh, to discuss their demands. The farmers’ unions have put forth 12 demands before the government. These include a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), a waiver of farm loans and the withdrawal of cases brought against them in 2020-21.
After the meeting, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said Friday that the government was trying to “suppress” the voices of agitating farmers. Social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers supporting the agitation have been suspended, alleged Pandher, general secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee who was part of the delegation that met Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai.
Another meeting between the two sides is to be held on 18 February. The farmers’ side would be represented by Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), among others.
Also Read: Yes to Grameen Bandh, no to ‘Delhi Chalo’ — why Haryana outfits, khaps differ with Punjab farmers
‘Trouble earning our livelihood’
Besides commuters, the protest has also made life difficult for bus drivers and auto rickshaw drivers plying on the Singhu border route.
Interstate buses and heavy commercial trucks bound for Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are now being made to take a diversion from Majnu Ka Tila on Outer Ring Road to reach Eastern Peripheral Road from Signature Bridge via Khajuri Chowk via Loni Border.
“Just as people are facing problems, we are also facing problems and not getting rides. It has been three-four days that we have been operating with only eight to ten passengers,” Bhagwan, who runs a private bus service from Singhu to Panipat, told ThePrint.
“We are facing a lot of loss because we are not getting enough rides due to traffic and route diversions. If this continues, we will face a lot of trouble earning our livelihood.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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