CHANDIGARH: Farmers protesting against the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws blocked the 136-km-long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway at several points. The farmers have said that they will block the KMP Expressway, also known as the Western Peripheral Expressway, for twenty-four hours starting 8 am on Saturday.
They, however, said emergency vehicles such as ambulances will be allowed to ply. On the call given by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) an umbrella body of protesting farmer unions spearheading the agitation, farmers began protests at several points on the expressway which passes through Sonipat, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Nuh and Palwal districts in Haryana. The road blockade resulted in a long queue of vehicles.
Farmers, including women, carried flags of their organisations and raised slogans against the government. They squatted on the expressway and toll plazas in large numbers. The police were deployed in large numbers to prevent any law and order situation.
There are around eleven toll plazas on the expressway. The farmers in Sonipat and Jhajjar districts parked their tractor-trolleys and other vehicles in the middle of stretches of the expressway to block the road.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said the blockade would be for twenty-four hours. “Emergency vehicles including ambulances, defence vehicles were allowed to ply,” he said.
The SKM claimed that a few farmer activists were detained at Rewasan in Nuh district during the protests. However, a Haryana Police official denied this. He said that the farmers were blocking the Gurugram-Nuh road which caused inconvenience to the commuters leading to long traffic jams. Thus, they were taken to the police station for talks.
Haryana Police has issued a traffic advisory, asking travellers to avoid the KMP expressway. Traffic diversions have been planned by affected districts especially Sonipat, Jhajjar, Panipat, Rohtak, Palwal, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Nuh.