Agri laws: Haryana police asks travellers to avoid KMPE on April 10 to avoid blockade by farmers

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police has issued a traffic advisory asking travellers to avoid Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway on Saturday to avoid a 24-hour blockade, the call for which has been given by farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws.

The farmers have threatened to block the Expressway for 24 hours from 8.00 am on April 10.

While giving the blockade call earlier this month, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had also said farmers will also march to Parliament in May.

The travellers should avoid the KMP expressway during the blockade period, the traffic advisory said.

Haryana's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk on Friday said elaborate arrangements have been put in place to maintain peace and order, prevent any kind of violence and facilitate the traffic and public transport on this important expressway.

Owing to the likely mass gathering of farmers during the proposed blockade on the KMP expressway, all senior police officers, including additional director generals, inspector generals, commissioners and superintendents of police have been instructed to ensure maintenance of law and order with minimum inconvenience to the general public.

Besides, proper traffic diversions had already been planned by the affected districts especially Sonipat, Jhajjar, Panipat, Rohtak, Palwal, Faridabad, Gurugram and Nuh, Virk said in a statement.

He added that all citizens are being informed about these arrangements in advance so that they can plan and modify their journey to avoid any inconvenience.

Concerned districts have also been asked to issue local advisories in this regard, he said, adding smooth traffic, however, continues on all other routes across the state.

Virk said passengers coming from Ambala/Chandigarh side on the National Highway-44 may go towards UP Ghaziabad and Noida via Karnal to Shamli and from Panipat to Sanauli.

Similarly, vehicles going towards Gurugram and Jaipur can take National Highway-71A from Panipat and travel via Gohana, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Rewari.

Virk said maintaining law and order is the priority of the police.

No person would be allowed to take the law in their hands and strict action would be taken against those who try to disrupt the law and order, he said.

Also, all precautionary steps are being taken to ensure the convenience of citizens and travellers coming from outside, he added.

Hundreds of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri (along Haryana), and Ghazipur -- demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

The Centre says the new farm laws will free farmers from middlemen, giving them more options to sell their crops.

The protesting farmers, however, say the laws will weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.