The Delhi Traffic Police said on Saturday that two national highways, NH9 and NH24, were closed for the movement of traffic from Delhi to Ghaziabad, as farmers continue their protests against the central government agricultural reforms introduced in September.
When updating travelers via Twitter, the police advised them to take alternative routes to Ghaziabad via the Delhi Noida (DND) direct air route, Wazirabad and the ITO.
“Traffic alert. Both NH-9 and NH-24 are closed by Delhi to Ghaziabad due to protests from farmers. People are advised to take an alternative route to Ghaziabad via DND, ITO and Wazirabad, ”he said.
On Friday, the police had sealed off Singhu, Ghazipur, Piau Maniyari and other border points and urged travelers to travel across the school toll tax borders of Lampur, Safiabad, Palla and Singhu. Strong security measures were deployed on the Ghazipur border to ensure that the protests did not take a violent turn.
Since last month, farmers, mainly from the states of Haryana and Punjab, have marched and are camping at the border points of the national capital and neighboring states seeking the removal of controversial reforms. On Friday, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had once again called on farmers to end their agitation and enter into a dialogue with the government.
“I want to urge you to drop the protest and come forward for dialogue. I am hopeful that farmers understand the importance of the new laws and come to a solution, ”said Tomar. So far five rounds of talks have been held between the government and farmers’ groups, but they have not reached any logical conclusions.
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The Ministry of Agriculture, in its last letter on Thursday, invited farmers to a sixth round of talks and urged them to decide on the date and time of the talks. Farmers’ groups held a meeting on Friday to discuss the government’s latest letter, with some groups hinting that they might resume talks to find a solution to end the stalemate. Today the groups will hold a second round of meetings where a formal decision is likely to be made on the Center’s invitation to dialogue.
(With contributions from the agency)
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