NOIDA/GURGAON: It may take you longer to get past Delhi’s heavily fortified borders on Friday, and Delhi Metro may be a safer bet if you have an appointment to keep. Curbs and checks are likely to be stepped up because of the Gramin Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and backed by other farmer groups.
Police in Gurgaon and Ghaziabad, which have two of the busiest borders with Delhi at Sirhaul and UP Gate, did not issue any advisory for Friday morning. But Noida police did, saying there would be additional checks at its three borders with Delhi at DND Flyway, Chilla and Kalindi Kunj. “There will be traffic pressure, which could lead to snarls. We will have to divert traffic through internal roads,” Anil Kumar Yadav, DCP (traffic), told TOI on Thursday. He also urged commuters to use the metro.
Section 144 of the CrPC banning gatherings of more than five people was imposed across Noida on Thursday.
Nimish Patil, DCP (trans-Hindon) in Ghaziabad, said they would take additional measures at UP Gate should farmers march up to there. “We will wait and watch for now. There will definitely be more cops at UP Gate on Friday,” he added.
A section of the highway here has been closed since Monday in anticipation of the farmers’ protest and number of lanes available for traffic is restricted. After two days of long jams on Monday and Tuesday, passage through the borders was relatively easier on Wednesday and Thursday.
The borders remain heavily barricaded. At the Sirhaul border in Gurgaon, Delhi Police stuck tyre killers into the service lane of NH-8 for Delhi-bound traffic, in effect making those lanes inaccessible.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of around 25 farmers reached UP Gate and threatened to go to Delhi as part of their protest demanding, among other things, a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP). The farmers – who arrived in six cars with blankets, mattresses and ration to last a few weeks – were stopped at the border and taken to Kaushambi police station. Senior police officers persuaded them to return to their villages, sources said.
The farmers were affiliated to the Mahatma Tikait faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Its founder Anil Talan said a bigger group had left for Delhi from 15 different districts of UP, among them Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar. On the way, the protesters were stopped at various borders and sent back.
“But 25 of us managed to reach UP Gate. We want a law that give us a guarantee about MSP, besides compensation for 700 farmers who died during the protest in 2020-21. If govt continues to sit on our demands, we will return to UP Gate like earlier. We are ready for a fight,” he told TOI.
Police in Gurgaon and Ghaziabad, which have two of the busiest borders with Delhi at Sirhaul and UP Gate, did not issue any advisory for Friday morning. But Noida police did, saying there would be additional checks at its three borders with Delhi at DND Flyway, Chilla and Kalindi Kunj. “There will be traffic pressure, which could lead to snarls. We will have to divert traffic through internal roads,” Anil Kumar Yadav, DCP (traffic), told TOI on Thursday. He also urged commuters to use the metro.
Section 144 of the CrPC banning gatherings of more than five people was imposed across Noida on Thursday.
Nimish Patil, DCP (trans-Hindon) in Ghaziabad, said they would take additional measures at UP Gate should farmers march up to there. “We will wait and watch for now. There will definitely be more cops at UP Gate on Friday,” he added.
A section of the highway here has been closed since Monday in anticipation of the farmers’ protest and number of lanes available for traffic is restricted. After two days of long jams on Monday and Tuesday, passage through the borders was relatively easier on Wednesday and Thursday.
The borders remain heavily barricaded. At the Sirhaul border in Gurgaon, Delhi Police stuck tyre killers into the service lane of NH-8 for Delhi-bound traffic, in effect making those lanes inaccessible.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of around 25 farmers reached UP Gate and threatened to go to Delhi as part of their protest demanding, among other things, a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP). The farmers – who arrived in six cars with blankets, mattresses and ration to last a few weeks – were stopped at the border and taken to Kaushambi police station. Senior police officers persuaded them to return to their villages, sources said.
The farmers were affiliated to the Mahatma Tikait faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Its founder Anil Talan said a bigger group had left for Delhi from 15 different districts of UP, among them Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar. On the way, the protesters were stopped at various borders and sent back.
“But 25 of us managed to reach UP Gate. We want a law that give us a guarantee about MSP, besides compensation for 700 farmers who died during the protest in 2020-21. If govt continues to sit on our demands, we will return to UP Gate like earlier. We are ready for a fight,” he told TOI.