Farmers Remove Tents, Barricades but Congestion Still Present on Highways

People traveling from Ghaziabad to Delhi continue to face traffic bottlenecks and travel time delays, due to police barriers, which have yet to be removed from the lanes, which are already causing delays. 

Commuters are presently taking diversions, which increases their journey time and causes them to spend more time stuck in traffic. Many individuals prefer to choose to go from Noida and Ghaziabad to Delhi on a daily basis because of the Delhi-NCR region's closeness. 

Farmers removed a makeshift structure at the UP Gate underpass on Thursday after the Supreme Court, during a hearing on September 30, 2021, ruled "Farmers have right to protest but they cannot keep roads blocked indefinitely. You may have a right to agitate in any manner but roads should not be blocked like this. People have the right to go on roads but it cannot be blocked," the bench also comprising Justice MM Sundresh said. 

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait told reporters on Thursday that "The protesters have removed their tents but barricades have been put by the government and the Delhi Police which are still there. The road is otherwise open. If you see, there are only barricades which have been put by the police".  

The Ghaziabad police had previously blocked the UP-Gate border in the aftermath of the Lakhimpur Kheri unrest, which resulted in the deaths of eight individuals seven protesting farmers and one journalist. 

This Farmers Agitation began due to farmers wanting to get the following 3 bills that were introduced by the Modi Government: 

• Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 

• Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020 

• Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 

Earlier this year on January 26, the protest that was intended to highlight farmer union’s demands to repeal the above mentioned three agriculture laws, devolved into chaos on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles, and hoisted a religious flag from the iconic Red Fort's ramparts. 

Now it remains to be seen how soon the police will respond to this and unclog one of NCR's most used highways.