Chandigarh: As farmers continued their agitation at the Punjab-Haryana borders, the barricades put up between Ambala and Chandigarh National Highway have been removed by the Haryana administration on Tuesday. The Ambala-Chandigarh National Highway reopened after being closed for 22 days owing to the farmers protest.
The agitating farmers are set to march towards the national capital on March 6 and the farmers' unions have also called to block railway tracks on March 10.
Haryana's border with Punjab was sealed at Shambhu near Ambala district ahead of the farmers protest. Farmers from Punjab set out on their 'Delhi Chalo' march on February 13 to press for their demands including a separate law on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and dropping of charges against farmers during the past protests.
Iron sheets, concrete blocks, and barbed wires were installed along the roads to prevent the farmers from moving towards the national capital. During the protests, the farmers clashed with the police deployed at the borders, following which the latter fired tear gas shells at the agitating farmers.
Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pensions to farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act 2013, withdrawal from the World Trade Organisation and compensation for families of the farmers who died during the previous agitation, among others.
