There will be diversions at several points on Eastern Peripheral Expressway today.
A 135-km six-lane arc that partially surrounds the National Capital Region and acts as a high-speed thoroughfare for cargo trucks will be full of tractors today, driven by farmers who have been camping on the highways in and around Delhi in protest against new farm laws. The tractor rally, called by some 40 farmer unions, will run on the Western Peripheral Expressway that starts at Ghaziabad and ends in Palwal. The police have asked people to avoid this expressway, which makes the other half of Western Peripheral Expressway, making a circle around the National Capital Region or NCR.
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There will be diversions at several points on Eastern Peripheral Expressway today. Police in Gautam Buddh Nagar near Delhi have said vehicles won’t be allowed to get on the expressway from Beel Akbarpur and Sirsa towards Palwal from 12 pm to 3 pm.
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Those coming from Sirsa side and Beel Akbarpur towards Sonipat won’t be allowed to get on the expressway from 2 pm to 5 pm, the police said.
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The tractor rally is being organised by Sanyuta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella of 40 farmer unions. It will start from Ghaziabad and go to Palwal in Haryana and then return on the same route.
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The Delhi Traffic Police has been tweeting updates on which roads to avoid. It said Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, Saboli and Mangesh borders are shut for traffic. “Please take alternate route via Lampur Safiabad, Palla and Singhu school toll tax borders. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba and GTK road. Please avoid Outer Ring Road, GTK Road and NH-44,” the traffic police tweeted.
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In the last meeting between farmers and ministers on January 5, farmer leaders said Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar told them to go to the Supreme Court as the centre doesn’t intend to withdraw the laws.
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Last month, the Supreme Court had ordered that a special committee be formed, insisting that the centre’s negotiations have failed. “Your negotiation will again fail as they (the farmers) won’t agree,” said the bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde.
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Camping on the highways at the Haryana-Delhi border for over 40 days, braving severe cold and rain, farmers have said their protest will only intensify in the coming days. The rain came amid a cold wave in the National Capital Region last week, taking temperature down to 1.1 degree Celsius, the lowest in 15 years in January.
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The tractor rally was planned for Tuesday; however, bad weather forced the farmers to defer the rally by a day. “It has been seven months since the new laws came into force and the government has held seven round of talks with farmers since then, but it has not listened to seven words of farmers, which are – we want repeal of the farm laws,” said Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav.
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The farmers have said they will take out another tractor rally on January 26. “We will send 10 tractor-trollies from every village in Haryana. We request people to come, at least one from each house,” farmer leader Joginder Nain said.
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The farmers are adamant that they will not accept anything less than a repeal of the laws. They also want a law that guarantees the minimum support price. The government, which says the laws will benefit farmers by removing middlemen and enable them to sell crops anywhere in the country, has blamed the opposition for the protests, saying they are inciting farmers.
