Heavy Traffic at Delhi-Gurgaon Border Amid Farmer Protests

Members of various farmers organisations gather in protest. Image used for representation purposes alone.

(Photo: PTI)

Thousands of commuters travelling to Delhi from other states remain stranded on the National Highway 44 on Friday, 27 November, due to the blockade of roads by the Haryana Police who have barricaded a 15-km stretch in Karnal to stop the farmers from dissenting against the three contentious farmer laws passed by the Centre.

The police has deployed riot control personnel, the CRPF and have parked trucks with construction material on a bridge near the Karna lake to Taraori town on the National Highway 44 which connects Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir with Delhi. They are diverting the traffic to link roads from Ramba-Indri -Karnal road, reported Hindustan Times.

Thousands of vehicles, at the Delhi-Panipat Highway where earlier thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana had gathered at Panipat on Friday to resume their march of ‘Dilli Chalo’ for an indefinite protest in the capital city.

The police has also been deployed to manage the traffic jam on the Yamuna Expressway, Mathura, as the farmers’ protest has blocked the road, reported ANI.

One such commuter, Shivangi, told news agency, ANI that, “I'm coming from Jammu & was suppose to reach Delhi yesterday evening. We have no updates so far.”

Hindustan Times spoke to a truck driver Satpal Singh who said, “We are stuck for the past 15 hours and don’t know how long it will take.” He is on his way to Ludhiana.

The stranded commuters are being served food by farmers and a ‘langar’ by local Gurudwaras.

To prevent farmers entering from Punjab, Ambala has sealed the borders of Haryana-Punjab – Shambhu and Sadopur – on Thursday.

However, the farmers at the Shambhu border, near Ambala, threw the police barricades into the river, pelted stones, pushed vehicles and continued to protest as police stopped them from proceeding to Delhi. The police, meanwhile, used tear gas and water cannons on the farmers during the clash, but the latter managed to cross the border into Haryana on Thursday.

Karnal Superintendent of Police Ganga Ram Punia told Hindustan Times that the blockade will continue till farmers turn away, as they are directed to not let them move forward. He said the traffic has been diverted, and police and CRPF have been deployed on link roads to allow vehicles to move freely.

Amid tight security on Thursday, over three lakh farmers and members of trade unions from Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana have called for "Delhi Chalo", a two-day march, to protest against the three farm laws passed by the Centre in September.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times and ANI)