Farmer Protest Update: Police have advised people to use metro services to avoid discomfort due to traffic diversions.
Given the farmer protest today, the police commissioner of Gautam Buddh Nagar has issued a traffic advisory. Police informed the masses that there would be strict checks of vehicles traveling through Gautam Buddh Nagar to its borders with Delhi. Police have advised people to use metro services to avoid discomfort due to traffic diversions. All types of goods vehicles traveling to Delhi via Yamuna Expressway to Noida/Greater Noida Expressway and vehicles going to Surajpur via Sira, Parichowk are prohibited. The ‘Delhi Chalo March,’ organized by around 200 farmers’ unions and many farmers, is expected to reach the national capital on February 13 from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab.
Here are the alternative routes advised by the police.
1) Vehicles going to Delhi via Chilla Border can take 14A flyover to reach Golchakkar Chowk Sector 15, then proceed to Sandip Paper Mill Chowk, Jhundpura Chowk and then travel further to their destination.
2) Vehicles going to Delhi via DND Border are advised to take Filmcity flyover to reach sector 18 and then proceed further to their destination.
3) Vehicles traveling to Delhi via Kalindi Border are advised to take the Mahamaya flyover to reach sector 37 and proceed further from there.
4) Vehicles to Delhi via Yamuna expressway are advised to go towards Khurja from Jewar toll and proceed further through Jahangirpur.
5) Vehicles traveling to Delhi via the Peripheral expressway to Sirsa, Parichowk, can instead take the route towards Dadri, Dasna to reach their destination.
6) Emergency vehicles will be allowed to reach secure destinations amid the traffic diversions.
What is the farmer’s protest reason?
Farmers’ unions- the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have announced that more than 200 farm unions would march to Delhi on February 13. The farmers want to pressure the central government to accept several demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Farmers Protest Delhi Border: Two years after they forced the Modi government to take back three farm laws after a year-long protest at Delhi’s borders, Punjab farmer unions are back with a new set of demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops.
The decision to march to Delhi, or Delhi Chalo, after talks in Chandigarh hit a stalemate.
Are they the same groups that protested in 2020?
No, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) is a breakaway faction of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of the Punjab-based Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Sidhupur farm union, is the leader.
KMM was also not part of the main protest in 2020. It is led by Sarwan Singh Pandher, the Punjab-based union Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) convener.
What do the farmers want?
A law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and setting of crop prices as per Dr M S Swaminathan Commission’s report. Other demands include:
— Full debt waiver for farmers and laborers
— Implementation of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, with provisions for written consent from farmers before acquisition and compensation at four times the collector rate
— Punishment for the perpetrators of the October 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri killings;
— Withdrawal from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and freeze of all free trade agreements;
— Pensions for farmers and farm laborers;
— Compensation for farmers who died during the Delhi protest, including a job for one family member;
— Scrapping of Electricity Amendment Bill 2020
— 200 (instead of 100) days’ employment under MGNREGA per year, the daily wage of Rs 700, and the scheme should be linked with farming
— Strict penalties and fines on companies producing fake seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers; improvements in seed quality;
— National Commission for spices such as chili and turmeric
Farmers Protest Delhi Road Closure
Haryana sealed its borders with Punjab on February 8. A massive 12-layer barricade has been erected at the Shambhu Barrier on National Highway 1 leading to Delhi, and multiple barricades have been set up at Fatehabad, Khanauri, Dabwali, etc. The Internet has been shut down in several districts.
Rajasthan sealed its borders with Punjab and Haryana on February 11 and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts.
Farmers’ protest: Section 144 imposed in Delhi; borders secured with concrete blocks, barbed wires
Delhi has imposed a month-long ban on public meetings and the entry of tractors, trolleys, and anything “capable of being used as weapons or tools of violence” in the city for a month. Intensive checking will take place at pickets along routes bordering the capital by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police, with the latter advising commuters to utilize the metro to avoid congestion.
