Bharat Bandh underway; rail, road transport affected

According to the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, the nationwide shutdown will be observed till 6 pm across the country today which marks four months of the farmer agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

New Delhi: Hundreds of farmers on Friday blocked the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border here as part of their 12-hour Bharat Bandh on the completion of four months of protest over the three contentious farm laws.

The farmers blocked the National Highway 24 that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad. The farmers sat on the highway demanding the repeal of the three farm laws. A group of protesters also sang and danced at the Ghazipur border (Delhi-UP) as part of the protests.

Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet said: "Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch."

According to information available, Northern Railway has stopped 31 of its trains as farmers sat on tracks at many places in Punjab. Four Shatabdi trains coming towards Delhi have been cancelled.

Rail and road transportation services are likely to be affected and markets may remain closed in parts of the country on Friday owing to the ''Bharat Bandh'', even as it will not be observed in four poll-bound states and Puducherry.

According to the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, the nationwide shutdown will be observed till 6 pm today across the country today which marks four months of the farmer agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

In a video message, SKM leader Darshan Pal said that supplies of vegetables and milk will also be stopped by the protesting farmers.

The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, appealed to protesting farmers to be peaceful and not get involved in any kind of illegitimate debate and conflict during the ''bandh''.

"All shops, malls, markets and institutions will remain closed under complete Bharat Bandh. All minor and big roads and trains will be blocked. All services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services. The effect of Bharat Bandh will be observed inside Delhi as well," SKM said in a statement.

Senior farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said that road and rail transport will be blocked, claiming that markets will also remain closed.

The Morcha said that the ''bandh'' will also be observed in the national capital.

Rajewal said that trade unions from organised and unorganised sectors, and transport and other associations have extended their support for the ''Bharat Bandh'' call of farmer organisations.

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"Farmers will block rail tracks in various places. Markets and transport services will be closed during ''Bharat Bandh''," Rajewal told.

He said that however, emergency services like ambulance and fire will be allowed during the nationwide shutdown.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price on their crops.

Confederation of All India Traders, which claimed representation of eight crore traders in the country, said that markets will remain open on March 26 as it is not participating in the ''Bharat Bandh''.

"We are not going to participate in ''Bharat Bandh'' tomorrow. Markets will remain open in Delhi and other parts of the country. The ongoing deadlock can be resolved only through a dialogue process. There should be discussions on amendments in the farm laws that can make existing farming profitable," CAIT''s national general secretary Praveen Khandelwal said.

The statement issued by the SKM claimed that various farmers'' organisations, trade unions, student organizations, bar associations, political parties and representatives of state governments have supported the bandh call of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha.

Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is also a senior member of Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, said that the major impact of the ''Bharat Bandh'' will be felt in Haryana and Punjab.

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Kohar said that farmers have appealed to trader associations to close their shops during the nationwide shutdown as the three new Agri laws will also affect them indirectly.

The farmer leader said that in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry, the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha has appealed to people to not observe ''Bandh'' there.

Apart from repealing of three farm laws, the demands of the protesting union include cancellation of all police cases against farmers, withdrawal of electricity bill and pollution bill and reduction in prices of diesel, petrol and gas.

So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and government, but deadlock continued as both sides stuck to their stand.

In January, the government had offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.

PTI

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The agitation of farmers has increased against the three agricultural laws. Today, India is being shut down by farmers protesting against agricultural laws.

The impact of farmers' Bharat Bandh has also been witnessed at Sonepat. Today the farmers reached KMP and KGP Expressways and blocked them.