E-Paper
Farmers’ protest: Highway commuters from Chandigarh tricity area stuck in slow lane
Commuters had to take longer alternative routes as Haryana authorities sealed the Dera Bassi-Ambala border near Jharmari barrier. A few commuters took diversions from Bhankharpur to Mubarikpur via Ramgarh road, Yamunanagar, to reach Delhi.
With the Haryana government partially blocking the Ambala-Chandigarh national highway (NH)-152 in wake of the farmers’ proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13, commuters headed to the Capital were a hassled lot on Sunday as traffic on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway moved at snail’s pace.
Commuters had to take longer alternative routes as Haryana authorities sealed the Dera Bassi-Ambala border near Jharmari barrier. A few commuters took diversions from Bhankharpur to Mubarikpur via Ramgarh road, Yamunanagar, to reach Delhi.
Traffic was also majorly hit near Dera Bassi, Handesra, Lalru, Landran-Banur road.
Around 1,000 farmers from Mohali are expected to march towards Delhi on their tractors and other heavy vehicles, according to the police.
Mohali police, holding special meetings with farmers, have requested their leaders to maintain law-and-order while marching towards Delhi.
According to sources, farmers from Mohali are expected to gather at Banur from where they will join the procession near the Haryana-Punjab border at Shambhu where the Ambala authorities have installed three layers of concrete jersey barriers on the overbridge over the river to thwart protesters headed to Delhi.
Farmers in Dera Bassi and Zirakpur are expected to enter Haryana through Jharmari barrier which has also been blocked from Ambala side.
“We have not blocked any routes for farmers in Mohali but our Haryana counterparts have barricaded the borders leading to Delhi Punjab highway. We will keep an eye on the law-and-order situation here,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.
Aman Sahota, a resident of Phase-7, Mohali, said he had to reach Delhi for an urgent meeting but cancelled his plans at the last moment to avoid the traffic on Chandigarh-Ambala highway.
Flight fares to Delhi shoot up
Amid the road blockades, locals who were hoping to reach Delhi via air were also left dejected as all flights to the Capital were already packed and no new booking were accepted on Sunday. Besides, the flight fares had also shot up amid increased demand.
There are seven daily flights to Delhi from Chandigarh.
Deepali Sharma, a resident of Delhi, said that she had come to Mohali on Friday to visit her sick uncle. “Since I have to go to office on Monday, I was hoping to reach home by Sunday afternoon. But as cab drivers refused to travel to Delhi, I looked up the air fares. The rates were as high as 12,000 to 13,000 against the usual fare of ₹4,000,” she said.
Manish Mehta, a senior officer of Indigo airlines at Chandigarh airport, said, “We have four flights from Chandigarh to Delhi, the last departure being at 6:45 pm. I am not aware about any troubles in booking air tickets.”
