New Delhi: As scores of farmers protesting on the outskirts of Delhi-NCR against the Centre’s farm laws, a plea in Supreme Court was on Friday filed to remove them from there as the agitation is blocking emergency medical services in both the cities.

Filing the plea in Supreme Court for a petitioner, advocate Om Prakash Parihar said the plea seeks directions for immediate removal of agitating farmers from border areas of Delhi-NCR keeping in view the fact that they may pose a risk to spread of COVID-19.

The development comes as farmers opposing the Centre’s new farm laws stayed put at the Noida-Delhi border for the fourth day on the trot on Friday, even as a key road connecting Uttar Pradesh and the national capital remained partially shut due to the stir.

The protesters, including some women, are camping at one carriageway of the Delhi-Noida Link Road at the Chilla border, while some are demonstrating at the nearby Dalit Prerna Sthal near the Mahamaya Flyover, according to officials.

The Noida Traffic Police also issued an advisory on Thursday night, suggesting alternative routes instead of the Chilla road for hassle-free commutation, even as the alternative routes — Delhi-Noida Direct expressway and Kalindi Kunj — witnessed more than usual traffic that led to snarls during peak morning hours on Friday.

Farmers from western Uttar Pradesh districts like Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Firozabad, Kasganj, Gautam Buddh Nagar and belonging to groups like Bharatiya Kisan Union, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti) are protesting at the border here.

Thousands of farmers are currently staying put at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.