Farmers on Delhi Chalo march face water cannons, push through Haryana barricades
To encounter police barricades at Gharaunda; traffic diverted, jams running into kilometres on arterial highway
Haryana farmers removed barricades and made their way through trucks parked on the bridge near Karna Lake, 5km from Karnal town, to resume their Delhi Chalo march despite police using tear gas and water cannons to stall their progress on Thursday.
Karnal superintendent of police Ganga Ram Punia said another attempt to stop the farmers will be made at Gharaunda.
Police used water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse protesting farmers headed to Delhi as they tried to break through barricades at Sadopur border in Ambala. The farmers were seen resisting the police, trying to break and drag the barricades at the Sadopur following which police had to use deterrent action to control the situation.
Watch | Police use water cannon, tear gas on agitating farmers near Delhi-Haryana border
Angry farmers threw stones at security forces deployed to control the crowd at the Shambhu border.
JAMS LEAVE COMMUTERS HIGH AND DRY
Thousands of vehicles, especially trucks and buses, remained stranded on National Highway-44 as the police blocked a stretch of 15km near Karnal and diverted traffic from the highway that connects Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir with the national capital.
Traffic was diverted on the Ramba-Indri-Karnal link road. “We have been stuck for the past 15 hours and don’t know how long will it take for us to get moving,” said Satpal Singh, a truck driver headed for Ludhiana.
Heavy vehicles, including army convoys, were stuck on the highway near Ambala Cantonment. The vehicles were seen lined up for several kilometres.
Ambala superintendent of police Rajesh Kalia said that diversion of heavy vehicles could have led to traffic jams in towns, hence they were lined up along the highway.
PROTEST COINCIDES WITH CONSTITUTION DAY
Farmers have given the Delhi Chalo call to coincide with Constitution Day to protest the Centre’s new farm laws. While the government says the three laws will do away with middlemen, enabling farmers to sell their produce in the commercial markets, protesters fear that this could lead to the government not buying produce at guaranteed prices, thereby disrupting their timely payments.
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