NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: Farmers from across western UP blocked the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) in Gautam Budh Nagar for around four hours to lend support to their Punjab and Haryana counterparts in their protest against the three contentious farm bills, bringing traffic there to a complete halt.
Among those stranded were grooms, baraatis and people going to attend funerals. While some were allowed to pass through, others were refused. It led to arguments between commuters, cops and the farmers who threatened to turn violent as tempers soared. Eventually, some commuters just walked down the expressway. The farmers lifted the blockade only after getting permission to enter Delhi.
Led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Tikait group, around 200 farmers gathered at the EPE near the Sirsa toll on the carriageway towards Palwal, where they blocked traffic using tractors.
Rakesh Chaudhary, mandal vice-president for the union told TOI that they support the farmers of Punjab and Haryana in their protest. “The farmers are demanding that they be ensured that the sale of their produce happens at the minimum support price (MSP) but all the crops, including wheat, rice and millets, are already being sold at almost half the MSP. The bill would cause the private entities to gang up against our interests.”
Many commuters, who got stranded on EPE, requested the farmers to let them go. One of the commuters who wanted to go to the Garh Mukteshwar area for the last rites of a relative, told TOI that he was stuck for around three hours on the high-speed corridor.
As some family members of a groom, Anupam Singh, who had to go to Baghpat for his wedding requested the farmers to move, their vehicles were allowed to move. Many of the commuters who were refused to pass through got agitated and demanded that police pick up sticks and remove the farmers from the spot.
A group of commuters could be seen walking down the EPE via the muddy stretches along the highway, after arranging alternative vehicles by their relatives nearby. The farmers finally got off the stretch when Delhi Police allowed them to enter the national and protest there. However, the farmers were stopped at the Sirsa toll at 3 pm but later allowed to go after around 4 pm.
In Ghaziabad, the farmers blocked traffic at two places — Hapur Chungi Road and NH-58 in Modinagar. Immediately, the administration and cops swung into action to resume traffic movement from both sides on one lane. Senior police officials also requested the protesters not to take law and order into their own hands.
Rajvir Singh, Uttar Pradesh vice-president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, said, “Over 4,000 farmers will go to Duhai, where we will join the other protesters, who are coming from Muzaffarnagar and Meerut on Saturday morning. Then we will resume the march towards Delhi and will also try to meet the Prime Minister over the issue.”
Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP of Ghaziabad, said that over a thousand cops were deployed at several places, including Hapur-Chungi junction, Modinagar and UP gate on Friday. “We have also set up over 50 checkpoints in areas like Kavi Nagar, NH-24 and NH-58.”