Bharat bandh: Farmers block highways, roads in Punjab, Haryana; rail companies hit; partial response elsewhere

By: PTI | Chandigarh, New Delhi |
Updated: March 26, 2021 7:10:05 pm
Road and rail visitors was disrupted in a number of components of Punjab and Haryana through the Bharat bandh referred to as by farmers on Friday as a part of their nationwide protest in opposition to the three agri legal guidelines although there was partial response to it in different components of the nation.
Farmers blocked nationwide highways and different key roads at many locations in Punjab and Haryana, and squatted on railway tracks at a number of areas.
The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the farmers’ stir, referred to as for the bandh from 6 am to six pm to mark 4 months of the agitation at Delhi’s three borders — Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.
A railway spokesperson mentioned 4 Shatabdi trains had been cancelled, 35 different passenger trains had been detained and the motion of 40 items trains was affected by the protests.
Pune metropolis Congress protested at Congress Bhavan in solidarity with protesting farmers and in help of  Bharat Bandh on Friday. (Express photograph by Arul Horizon)
Train motion was disrupted at 44 areas that fall below the Delhi, Ambala and Ferozepur divisions of the railways.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia, as many as 20 activists of CPI (M-L), protesting in Sikandarpur township of the district, had been taken into custody.
The bandh had a minimal impression in Delhi. Markets at Connaught Place, Karol Bagh, Kashmiri Gate, Chandni Chowk and Sadar remained open.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) needed to briefly shut the entry and exit gates of the Tikri Border, Bahadurgarh City and Brigadier Hoshiar Singh stations, however after a couple of minutes, the stations had been opened for passengers.
A farmer chief claimed that there have been protests in Mayapuri and another areas the place individuals peacefully staged demonstrations.
The SKM claimed that numerous farmer organisations, commerce unions, scholar our bodies, bar associations, political events and representatives of state governments have supported the bandh name.
In different components of the nation, there was partial response to the bandh.
Shops remained closed at a number of locations in Punjab. At a couple of locations in Haryana too, shutters had been down in help of the bandh.
Shops shut throughout Bharat Bandh at Partap Bazar in Ludhiana. (Express images by Gurmeet Singh)
Public and personal transport remained off the roads in Punjab.
In neighbouring Haryana, State Transport Minister Moolchand Sharma informed PTI that Haryana Roadways bus companies might be suspended in these districts the place it’s felt that it’s not conducive to function them in view of the farmers’ protest.
“Bus services are otherwise functional in Haryana,” he mentioned.
Since morning, farmers within the two states gathered at a number of highways and roads, together with in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali, Rohtak, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Jhajjar, Jind, Panchkula, Kaithal, Yamunanagar and Bhiwani districts.
Farmer union leaders mentioned they had been permitting ambulances and different emergency autos in addition to marriage processions to move.
Passengers wait at a railway station throughout Bharat Bandh in Ludhiana. Rail companies had been affected in some areas of Punjab and Haryana. (Express photograph by Gurmeet Singh)
In view of the ‘Holla Mohalla’ competition at Sri Anandpur Sahib, autos carrying devotees had been being allowed to commute. The protesters have even organized ‘langar’ for the devotees on the protest websites.
Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni, in a video message on Friday, appealed to the protesting farmers to make sure the sleek passage of important provides and even sick individuals travelling in non-public autos or these travelling in neighbouring areas.
“We have to protest peacefully,” Chaduni mentioned.
Thousands of farmers, primarily from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been tenting at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur demanding a whole repeal of the three farm legal guidelines and a authorized assure to the minimal help value (MSP) on their crops.
So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and the federal government, however the impasse continues as each side persist with their stands.
In January, the federal government had supplied to droop the farm legal guidelines for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.