Farmers block Delhi to Noida carriageway too at Chilla border

Noida: A group of protesting farmers on Saturday morning blocked the Delhi-Noida side of the road at Chilla border. The Noida-Delhi side at the border has been blocked

Noida: A group of protesting farmers on Saturday morning blocked the Delhi-Noida side of the road at Chilla border. The Noida-Delhi side at the border has been blocked by the farmers for the past five days.

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According to a farmers’ leader, they have completely blocked both the carriageways at Chilla border as some farmers coming from western UP were stopped at Jewar toll plaza. Police said that the farmers were trying to march towards Delhi and they were stopped to maintain law and order situation.

The Noida police and Delhi police have placed barricades on both sides and diverted traffic to DND Flyway, Kalindi Kunj and Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera (DSC) road. According to police officials, the police are trying not to let large gathering at one spot in order to manage the crowd.

The farmers from districts like Gautam Budh Nagar, Etah, Mainpuri, Firozabad, and Bulandshahr, on their way to Delhi to protest the Centre’s new farm laws, had been stopped at the Chilla border on December 1. They have set up camps since then, and continued to stay there.

“We had blocked Noida-Delhi road on December 1 against the farm bills. But the police strategically blocked different roads leading to Chilla border. In our support, about 200 farmers in tractors and cars from western UP were coming to Chilla border on Saturday. But they were stopped by police at Jewar toll plaza. We asked the police officials to allow the farmers to reach the Chilla border. But the police did not agree and in retaliation, the farmers blocked the Delhi-Noida side too,” said Vikas Gurjar, UP vice-president, Bharatiya Kisan Union-Bhanu.

Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police, Noida Zone 1, said that the police personnel are deployed at the spot to maintain law and order. “The farmers were trying to march towards Delhi in the morning. The Delhi police set up barricades and blocked the road on Delhi-Noida side. The Noida-Delhi road has already been blocked for five days. We are holding meetings with farmers to end this deadlock,” he said.

Reshma Rana, BKU-Bhanu spokesperson, has come from Meerut to participate in the protest. “We demand the government to withdraw the farm bills. In many cases, the farmers are not able to get even their investment after selling their crops. I grow sugarcane. I sell the produce at the government mills and the bills are not cleared even after one year. A number of farmers commit suicide due to financial instability,” she said.

At the protest site, there were some farmers who had lost their family members due to heavy debt. Devendra Singh, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, said that his 46-year-old brother committed suicide in August this year after he failed to clear loans. “My brother Pritam Singh had planted sugarcane in 16 acres after taking loans. He did not get sufficient money after selling the harvest, and failed to return Rs 3 lakh loan. The bank started charging penalty. He remained depressed for a few months and one day he hanged himself,” he said.