Delhi police partially lift blockade at Tikri and Singhu borders

Police officers said the blockades will be restored if the protesting farmers at the Punjab-Haryana borders start moving towards Delhi

The Delhi Police on Saturday said they were partially removing blockades from the Singhu and Tikri borders to allow cross-border movement of vehicles, after farmers’ groups on Friday said they had postponed their march to the Capital till February 29. However, the blockades on the Ghazipur border sealing both carriageways of National Highway (NH) 24 near the UP Gate underpass linking Delhi and Ghaziabad will remain in place, police officers said.

On Saturday afternoon, the police began removing portions of the multilayered concrete and iron blockades from the Singhu and Tikri borders. (ANI)

On Saturday afternoon, the police began removing portions of the multilayered concrete and iron blockades from the Singhu and Tikri borders. Police officers said the protesting farmers are currently contained at the Punjab-Haryana borders, and if there is any movement of them towards Delhi, the blockades will be restored.

“As there has been no movement of farmers near the Delhi-Haryana borders in the past 10-11 days and they have halted their march to Delhi till the end of this month, there was no point continuing the inconvenience the public was facing due to the sealing of the borders. We have decided to partially open the Tikri border roads connecting Haryana and Delhi. We will continue monitoring the situation, and the blockades will be restored if there is any movement of protesting farmers,” said special commissioner of police (law and order, zone-2) Madhup Tiwari.

The Singhu and Tikri borders have been shut since January 13 following calls from farmers to carry out a protest march to Delhi. Both carriageways of NH 24 near the UP Gate underpass were also sealed with blockades consisting of jersey barriers, iron barricades, police buses, sand-loaded trucks, and other heavy vehicles. However, the routes through NH 9 and the Delhi-Meerut Expressway were kept partially open.

Motorists travelling between Delhi and Haryana and to further states faced massive traffic jams on the alternate routes suggested by the police. Traffic congestion was reported on roads leading to the Singhu and Tikri borders in outer and west Delhi areas since February 13.

A senior police officer said that the police took proactive steps to provide relief to people living in villages around the Singhu and Tikri borders whose businesses were badly affected by the sealing of the borders.

Some local residents welcomed the partial removal of blockades. “After nearly 11 days, the police are removing the blockades using cranes and drill machines. We are happy that the authorities have at least taken into account the problems that we have been facing for more than 10 days. We just hope that they don’t seal the borders again,” said Samay Singh, a resident.