NEW DELHI: The police have partially removed the cement barricades which they had erected at the Singhu and Tikri borders in north and west Delhi to prevent the farmers protesting against the central government from entering the city.
A senior Delhi Police officer said that they have removed a portion of the barrier from Point-A to Point-B for the commuters, however, the deployment of police and paramilitary forces will continue to remain round the clock.
“Force deployment will stay in place. Vehicle movement will not be allowed for now,” the officer said.
“Commuters, those coming to Delhi and those who going from Delhi to some other places, are facing problems. We have already arranged diversions. But for those who are walking, we have arranged a pathway,” said officer.
Earlier, barricades rolled with barbed wires, cement boulders, nails on roads, and trenches were dug alongside the road near both the Singhu and Tikri borders to halt farmers proposed Delhi march.
Notably, the farmers, besides a legal guarantee of MSP, are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver and no hike in electricity tariff.
They have also asked the government to withdraw the police cases against them and give ‘justice’ to the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
The northern borders -- Tikri and Singhu -- were the ones which were completely fortified with a massive presence of police and paramilitary personnel. However, as the farmers have postponed their march, the police are de-intensifying their arrangments.
A commuter Suresh said he commutes to Kundali for work but due to the barriers he had to walk an additional distance of more than a kilometre everyday.
“There is one narrow passage for the commuters through which only one person can go through. But now we got to know that the police is opening the barrier for the people. This will surely ease the problem,” Suresh said.
Another commuter Manoj Kumar at the Tikri Border said, “I work in Delhi and I have to walk for 1.5kms everyday to reach my workplace.”
Opening the barriers will ensure that the commuters will reach their office on time, he said.
Two lanes of the the Ghazipur border have also been shut with the deployment of multi-layer barricades and police personnel.
Force deployment to stay
A senior Delhi Police officer informed that they have removed a portion of the barrier from Point-A to Point-B for the commuters, however, the deployment of police and paramilitary forces will continue to remain round the clock.
“Force deployment will stay in place. Vehicle movement will not be allowed for now,” the officer said.
“Commuters, those coming to Delhi and those who going from Delhi to some other places, are facing problems. We have already arranged diversions, the police added.
