As mercury dips, tractor-trolleys and UP Gate flyover come as saviour for protesting farmers

Ghaziabad: With the minimum temperature hovering around eight degrees Celsius on Tuesday, 97-year-old Soran Singh from Bulandshahr is busy walking at the UP Gate

Ghaziabad: With the minimum temperature hovering around eight degrees Celsius on Tuesday, 97-year-old Soran Singh from Bulandshahr is busy walking at the UP Gate which has now become one of the major protest sites for farmers. Skinny legs with one yet to recover fully from fracture which he suffered three years ago, Singh says that he takes up two-three rounds around the UP Gate to keep himself warm in the biting cold.

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“The leg still pains a lot but my stick helps me out. The weather is very cold and I retire to sleep late evening in my tractor-trolley where I have made a bed with ‘puaal’ (haystack) and use blanket to cover self,” he said.

Around four thousands of farmers at the UP Gate have their tractor-trolleys covered with tarpaulin sheets and converted them to small houses to prevent themselves from winter chill. The vehicles are stuffed with daily use items, along with blankets and quilts.

“We are on a warpath. These tractor-trolleys are our homes now till we continue our fight. We have about 20-25 women who sleep inside trolleys while men spread blankets on road below the trolleys. There is limited space inside trolleys, so many women prefer to sleep in sitting position huddled together to ward off winter chill,” said Kunti Devi, who is part of a farmers’ group from Shahjahanpur in UP.

“We have also brought little children with us as they cannot stay back home without their mothers. Women generally get up at 3am and go to water tankers to bathe. The water in tankers is ice-cold,” said Madhuri Kushwaha, another member of the group.

Protesters like Premwati Devi who is from Prayagraj said that she had held a roadside corner below the UP Gate flyover along with women from her group as dozens of tractor-trolleys are stationed there.

“We have laid down mattresses and are using blankets to cover ourselves. The flyover gives us cover and protects us from dew. Farmers are attuned to face adverse weather conditions throughout the year. So, we are facing winter chill and taking our protest forward,” Premwati added.

While majority of the tractor-trolleys are conventional, some of the trolleys which have arrived from Uttarakhand have provision of air-conditioners as well.

“The trolley is mounted in form of a cabin behind the tractor and is also modified from inside. The AC unit gets power from the generator and also from the tractor. Several farmer leaders also hold meetings inside. It belongs to one of our farmer leaders,” said Dilbag Singh, a farmer at UP Gate who arrived from Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand.

The farmers said that the space between two tractor-trolleys is also covered with tarpaulin sheets to create more space to prevent farmers from dew.

“The weather is adverse but we are holding ground. If Modiji (the Prime Minister) gives go ahead for our demands, we will go back home. Otherwise, we continue living here in trolleys, More such vehicles will arrive in coming days. Some trolleys have also installed solar panel for providing lights and charging of mobile phones. Many streetlights on this stretch were working initially, but now they are off,” said Prabhjit Singh, another farmer from Udham Singh Nagar.

When asked, the National Highways Authority of India officials said that the power connection to the streetlights were cut off by some people and they were using it for running heaters, generators and other electrical appliances. “Just because the wires have been damaged, the streetlights are not functioning at present,” said Mudit Garg, project director of NHAI.