Hundreds of Indirapuram residents staged a protest next to National Highway 9 on Sunday and demanded that the Ghaziabad-Delhi roadway, which has been closed for about a year due to the farmers’ protest, be opened to vehicular traffic .
Police said protesters wanted to form a human chain in front of the farmers’ protest site at the UP gate, but were denied permission to do so.
Residents of many skyscrapers gathered near the skyscraper in Amrapali village, about 2 km from the farmers’ protest site, with placards asking farmers to clear the roadway and ease the movement of thousands of commuters. Police and staff prevented protesters from venturing anywhere near the farmers’ protest site.
The causeway and the UP Gate area are occupied by farmers, who have been camping here in tents since November 28 last year, to press their demand for the cancellation of the three farm bills and a new law on the minimum support price (MSP).
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on November 19 that the three agricultural laws would be repealed, farmers refused to withdraw from the protest site. Farmer leaders reiterated that the farm protests will continue until the government enacts a new MSP law and responds to their other demands which they listed in an open letter to the Prime Minister.
“People are fed up with the developments. It looks like the farmers’ protests will continue and this will further prolong the opening of the road. All the authorities in the country are aware of the problems faced by commuters due to road closures, but no one is doing anything,” said Alok Kumar, founding member of the Federation of Apartment Owners Associations.
“The police have prevented us from moving near the farmers’ protest site, but the day is not far when more citizens will try to move there given the problems they are facing due to the closure of the road. We demand that the authorities open at least one route between Ghaziabad and Delhi so that travel becomes easy,” he added.
“It has been a difficult year. Due to the road closure, commuters have no choice but to leave their homes about 40-45 minutes earlier to get to their office on time. Even students and those visiting hospitals in Delhi face problems while traveling. For a year, commuters have to bypass UP gate and are forced to use Hindon Canal road, Kaushambi border or Noida Sector 62 area to reach Delhi,” said Deepak Kumar, chairman of the association. owners of apartments in the village of Amrapali.
“The problem is between the government and the farmers, but the common man is suffering through no fault of his own. Nobody is listening to the situation,” he added.
The demonstrators also submitted a memorandum to the police and demanded the immediate opening of the road. In the memorandum, residents said that the highway is the lifeline for commuters and thousands of them from different localities such as Kaushambi, Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Raj Nagar Extension and Khoda among others, were affected.
According to official estimates, around 60,000 passenger car units travel the UP Gate stretch daily.
“The protesters have submitted a memorandum, which will be forwarded to the respective authorities. We did not allow them to continue near the UP Gate area as it could have caused public order issues,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police (City 2).
Farm leaders said they have their sympathies for the residents who face so many problems while on the move.
“The government is responsible for all the problems faced by farmers and commuters. Residents must submit their request to the government. We also want a quick resolution of the problems faced by the farmers so that every farmer goes home happy,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a farmer leader and spokesperson for Samyukta Kisan Morcha – an umbrella body of different farmers unions. – at the UP Gate. site.
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