Agitated by the award of Sant Nirankari Ground for their protest, instead of Ramlila Maidan, farmers protesting at the Delhi borders on Sunday announced that they will make gherao the capital by blocking three roads connecting the capital with Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.
Until Sunday, farmers only blocked the Singhu and Tikri borders.
Groups of farmers from Punjab and Haryana, who had marched to Delhi on Friday but were not allowed to enter the city, have been camping at the Singhu (Delhi-Haryana) border and the Tikri border for the past three days. On the same day, the police offered the protesters land in Sant Nirankari to continue their agitation, but the farmers rejected the offer asking for Ramlila Maidan, who is closer to Delhi than Lutyens.
On Sunday, at a press conference on the Singhu border, farmer leader Surjeet Singh Phul said that they had decided that instead of going to the Burari field, they would block three other roads leading to Delhi: the Jaipur-Delhi highway connecting Gurugram with Delhi. Hapur-Delhi Highway connecting Delhi with Ghaziabad and Mathura-Delhi Highway connecting Faridabad with Delhi.
Phul said: “The land of Burari is an open jail and we will never agree to meet there. On Sunday, the police took a group of farmers from Uttarakhand who had arrived in Delhi to the Burari field when they said they wanted to go to Jantar Mantar. We refuse to go to Burari. We have enough ration to survive for at least four months, ”he said.
Phul also said that the farmers will not allow any of the political leaders to use their stage to politicize their cause. “Regardless of the party, we will not allow any politician to speak from our platform. We have been agitating in Punjab for the past two months and we do not allow any political leader to interfere even there, ”he added.
A high-ranking police officer, who did not want to be named, said concerned district units were informed about the farmers’ plan for the city of Gherao. “Adequate arrangements are being guaranteed to minimize inconvenience to the public. Our teams are assessing the situation and a traffic advisory will be issued to alert travelers, if necessary. The developments are being closely monitored, ”the officer said.
Senior police officers on the Singhu border interacted with farmer leaders on Sunday. Joint Police Commissioner (Northern Rank) Surender Singh Yadav said: “We ask the farmer groups to remain in peace as they have been for the past two days. Law and order arrangements are properly maintained, ”said Singh.
On the Burari field, tents were erected and lights set up, leaving room for protesters to come and continue their agitation. Small groups of protesters even visited the site on Sunday, but returned after seeing fewer than 100 farmers there.
Deputy Police Commissioner (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya, under whose jurisdiction the Sant Nirankari plot falls, said that a police control room has been set up on the Sant Nirankari plot in Burari, to facilitate farmers and ensure proper arrangements.
“We have more than 500 Delhi police officers and paramilitary personnel deployed here. The necessary arrangements have been made to make it easier for farmers to get here, ”said Arya.
The border blockade also caused traffic problems in many parts of Delhi. Traffic police published real-time traffic situations to alert travelers.
In one of their warnings issued Sunday night, the traffic police tweeted: “Singhu border is still closed from both sides. Please take an alternative route. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba Chowk and GT Karnal Road. Traffic is very, very heavy. Avoid the outer ring road from Signature Bridge to Rohini and vice versa, GT Karnal Road, NH 44 and the Singhu borders. “(Sic)
Alerting about the situation due to the blockade of the Tikri border, the traffic police tweeted: “The Tikri border is closed for any traffic movement. The open borders available for Haryana are following: the borders of Jharoda, Dhansa, Daurala Jhatikera, Badusari, Kapashera, Rajokri NH 8, Bijwasan, Palam Vihar and Dundahera. ”
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