Farmer unions have advanced the 24-hour blockade of the 135-km-long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway by three hours to start at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
“Earlier, the blockade was to start at 11 a.m. on April 10, but we have rescheduled it to start at 8 a.m.,” said Inderjit Singh, vice-president, Haryana All-India Kisan Sabha. He said farmers in large numbers would hold sit-ins at all the eleven toll plazas on the highway and also put up tents, if required.
“The farmer union activists would also be deployed at the entry points to the highway to ask commuters to avoid the road. Those who would already enter the highway, would be allowed to exit. Commuters stranded on the road will be given food and water by the protesters,” he said.
Mr. Singh said the drastic increase in fertiliser prices, almost 60% for DAP, was like adding insult to injury for the struggling farmers. “It is yet another act that exposes the absurdity of doubling farmers’ income, often repeated by the Modi regime,” he added.
The KMP Expressway, connecting Delhi-Ambala and Delhi-Agra highways, cuts through five districts of Haryana — Sonipat, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Nuh and Palwal.
Vijay Tiwari, senior project manager, Path India, the toll collection agency for KMP, told The Hindu that 25,000 vehicles, a third of them commercial vehicles, used the road every day on an average. The blockade, he said, would cause an estimated loss of around ₹75 lakh.
Traffic advisory
The Haryana Police issued a traffic advisory during the day asking commuters to plan and modify their journey keeping the blockade in mind. Traffic diversions have been put in place by affected districts, including Panipat, Rohtak and Faridabad, said the advisory. Those coming from Chandigarh and headed towards Noida have been advised to go via Karnal and Shamli or Panipat and Sanauli. Similarly, vehicles headed towards Gurugram from Chandigarh can take NH 71-A at Panipat to travel via Gohana, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Rewari.
In response to the appeal of Samyukta Morcha to block the KMP Expressway on Saturday, Bhartiya Kisan Union has decided to jam the entry point at Dasna in Ghaziabad.
BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, who will lead the protest at Dasna, appealed to the public not to use KMP on Saturday. “Emergency service vehicles, vehicles related to wedding parties, and vehicles driven by women will be allowed to pass,” said Dharmendra Malik, media in-charge BKU.
