Farmers to block KMP Expressway on Saturday: SKM leader

NEW DELHI: Protesting farmers will block the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway on March 6, a Samyukta Kisan Morcha leader said on Monday.

Balbir Singh Rajewal said that a call has been given to farmers camping at three Delhi border points to block the KMP Expressway from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points --- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur --- demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws enacted in September last year "We will block the KMP expressway on March 6 as part of the intensification of the ongoing protest," Rajewal told PTI.

The 136-km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway or the western peripheral expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.

It was built to decongest the ever-busy roads of Delhi, especially by reducing the number of trucks entering the national capital, thus helping to curb pollution.

It provides high-speed link between northern Haryana and southern districts and gives an uninterrupted high-speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic, from Haryana to neighbouring states.

Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said that a joint programme of action is being worked out by it along with many central trade unions which have expressed their support and solidarity for the ongoing farmers' movement.

In a statement, the Morcha said that the month of March will witness numerous Mahapanchayats across the country including in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal and Odisha.