NEW DELHI: The Delhi Chalo March, called by around 200 farmers’ oraganisations, is set to proceed toward the national capital. A large number of protesters are expected to move towards the city on February 13 from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
Meanwhile, the fear of financial losses and other hardships has returned to haunt locals and shopkeepers on the Delhi border areas.
At Tikri border, a local shopkeeper said it would be major problem for him if has to shut his shop again like three years ago when the agitation against the farm laws hit life in the area.
“The labourers working in the nearby area are our daily customers and the only source of income. During any protest, the police stop the workers from using the main road and we lose our customers,” he said.
“During any protest, we face huge losses,” a 35-year-old shopkeeper, who runs a grocery shop near the Tikri border says. Another trader, Sayyam said the last time the farmer unions protested, he faced a lot of difficulty in reaching his retail establishment.
“My grocery shop is located just 100 metres away from Tikri Border Metro Station, but due to heavy security force deployment, I had to take another way to reach my shop for which I had to walk almost two kilometres,” he said.
With barricades, cement boulders and nails on roads, the Delhi Police plans to prevent the farmers from entering the city, thereby foiling their proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march against the Centre.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), besides other organisations have called the protest to press the Centre to accept their demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The northern borders, the Tikri and the Singhu, have been completely fortified with a massive presence of police and paramilitary personnel.
Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora enforced section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the entire city for the next 30 days. More than 5,000 security personnel have been deployed along the border with other states.
Multi-layer security arrangements have been put in place at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders, the sites of the 2020-21 sit-in by farmer outfits against the three now-repealed central agri laws.
The security barricades include concrete blocks, spike barriers, barbed wires and containers that have been put on roads to stop the protesting farmers from entering the city.
Multi-layered security to deter farmers
Multi-layered security arrangements have been put in place at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders, the sites of the 2020-21 sit-in by farmer outfits against the three now-repealed central agricultural laws.
Security barricades include concrete blocks, spike barriers, barbed wires and containers that have been put on roads to stop the protesting farmers from entering the national capital.
