Security up, schools closed as Ambala braces for Punjab farmers’ march from Shambhu

Six companies of paramilitary forces and six of Haryana Police have been deployed at the border. Sufficient arrangement for tear-gas shells and water cannons has also been made to stop the farmers with more forces on stand by.

A jatha (group) of 101 farmers will embark on a march to Delhi at 1pm on Friday from their protest site at the Shambhu border on the Punjab and Haryana border.

Haryana Police put up barricades on National Highway 44 to prevent farmers from Punjab from marching into the state on Friday. (HT Photo)

The farmers are marching from the border of Patiala and Ambala districts to mount pressure on the Centre to announce a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops among other demands.

A heavy deployment of security personnel has been made on the Haryana side of the border, while the Ambala district administration has already issued prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), restricting any unlawful assembly of five or more persons in the district.

As a precautionary measure, Ambala deputy commissioner Parth Gupta issued late night orders for the closure of government and private schools for the day.

The prohibitory orders were also imposed in neighbouring Kaithal district on Friday morning.

Sources said that six companies of paramilitary forces and six of Haryana Police have been deployed at the border. Sufficient arrangement for tear-gas shells and water cannons has also been made to stop the farmers with more forces on stand-by.

Ambala Police on Thursday installed spikes and more barricades at Shambhu with a cemented wall already in place and jersey barriers nearly 500 metres from the site to stop the march, if the protesters are able to cross.

DC Gupta said that the agitators do not have any permission to protest in the national capital and according to Supreme Court orders, status quo has to be maintained by both sides.

Traffic movement remained smooth on GT Road from Delhi till Ambala City, from where police are diverting commuters for Punjab to travel via Chandigarh road or interior villages in Ambala City and Patiala districts.

The diversion routes are intact since February, when the farmers camped on the other side of Ghaggar flyover at the border.

Sibash Kabiraj, IGP, Ambala Range, said that commuters need not panic as all inter-state borders between Punjab and Haryana are open for traffic movement except Shambhu.