NHAI shuts Eastern Peripheral Expressway as farmers take out tractor march

Ghaziabad: More than 800 tractors took to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) on Thursday when a group of farmers protesting the new farm laws carried out their

Ghaziabad: More than 800 tractors took to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) on Thursday when a group of farmers protesting the new farm laws carried out their eight-hour tractor march ahead of the talks with the government on Friday. Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that they had to stop traffic for nearly seven hours on the 135km-long EPE in the wake of the farmers’ tractor rally.

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The tractor march in western UP was taken up by the farmers from the UP Gate who started with about 150 tractors at 9.30am and also joined by around 50 cars and other vehicles. They drove on the inner expressway lanes of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) for about one hour to reach the EPE’s Dasna interchange (about 23 km) while the regular commuter traffic was confined to the highway lanes of DME.

The farmers had earlier planned that from the Dasna interchange they would move to EPE up to Palwal. However, they cut short the travel and went up to the Sirsa toll near Dankaur in Gautam Budh Nagar and returned to the UP Gate by 5.30pm.

“The distance was curtailed as farmers from Palwal had also arrived in their tractors. So, we met near the Sirsa toll. Thereafter, they returned to their side and we returned to the UP Gate. It was not a ‘shakti pradarshan’ (show of strength) before the talks scheduled with the government on Friday. It was more to consolidate our collective fight and to meet other groups who are protesting at different sites,” said Gaurav Tikait, national president of youth wing of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).

About 150 tractors which started from the UP Gate were joined by about 250 tractors (from villages in Ghaziabad, Hapur and other nearby districts) which were waiting at Dasna, while over 100 more also arrived from areas like Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat.

The farmers were upbeat as they also deployed vehicles with music systems playing motivational songs while the volunteers also managed the flow of tractors at EPE. At DME, the tractors marched in a straight line but they occupied the entire one-side carriageway when they reached EPE.

“In between, at every interchange more tractors joined our procession. All the drivers were given strict instructions to carry out the march in a peaceful manner and we did not obstruct any traffic. It is up to the officials if they had blocked the traffic on EPE. From the Sirsa toll, we returned to the UP Gate by 5.30pm. Our cavalcade comprised about 800-1,000 tractors. We have more programmes lined up this month, but a final decision will be taken up after talks with the government on Friday,” said Rajbir Singh, state vice-president of BKU.

The farmers have been protesting since November 28 at the UP Gate, demanding repeal of the Centre’s three new farm laws and a new law on minimum support price. The government has not accepted these demands during seven rounds of talks so far but proposed amendments to the new laws.

The tractor march was organised as a “dress rehearsal” ahead of the “Dilli Chalo” call given for January 26, the farmers said.

Meanwhile, farmers camped at the Chilla border (Noida-Delhi link road) also carried out a small tractor rally from the Mahamaya flyover to the border in support of the larger one being carried out at EPE. Seventeen tractors with nearly as many four wheelers of farmers affiliated with the BKU-Bhanu took part in the rally.

“The idea of today’s rally was to show support to the larger one and to continue our protest against the new laws,” said Yogesh Pratap Singh, state president, BKU-Bhanu. Singh said that at least 20 of their tractors were also a part of the rally at EPE, and claimed that several of their supporters were stopped at Jewar from coming to the rally.

GB Nagar police claimed that the rally did not disrupt traffic in the city. “The rally went on in two lanes and the regular traffic followed it. No diversions were made except for the existing one via the DND for Noida to Delhi traffic,” said Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1.

The NHAI officials said that the distance from the Dasna interchange to the Sirsa toll is about 35 kilometres. They also said that the tractors are not allowed on EPE as per the guidelines issued by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).

“The regular commuter traffic faced disruptions at DME when tractors drove to Dasna from the UP Gate in the morning and also when they returned to the UP Gate. Further, we had to stop traffic on the entire EPE stretch till the time it was occupied by tractors. We had written to the district authorities on Wednesday about this, but our EPE traffic was still disrupted,” said Mudit Garg, project director of NHAI.

EPE has an estimated traffic flow of about 50,000 passenger car units (PCU) per day while the UP Gate (NH-9) has a PCU of about 80,000 vehicles.

“We have asked the farmers’ leaders to abide by the rules and regulations, and to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to public. We have prepared a traffic plan and diversion will be taken up wherever necessary during the time farmers go and come back,” Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey told reporters on Thursday morning.

However, Pandey was not reachable for comments on Thursday evening. Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic), did not take calls either.

In Gautam Budh Nagar, the rally ended in Dankaur area (Sirsa toll) from where tractors and other vehicles returned to the UP Gate border, said officials of the GB Nagar police.

“The farmers returned in the afternoon and there were no law and order issues. Traffic on EPE was stopped and diverted, but was resumed around 3.30pm,” said Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

Senior officials of the GB Nagar police had inspected the route on Wednesday and issued advisories for road blockage and diversions.