'Delhi Chalo' Farmers' March: Commuters Cross Delhi-Haryana Border On Foot as Police Stop Vehicles

New Delhi: As the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by the farmer unions seeking to press for their demands gained momentum on Tuesday, there were reports galore of the commuters being forced to cross the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana on foot amid heavy barricading by the police to block the vehicular movement, in view of the farmers' march towards Delhi. The police have placed concrete slabs on the roads to prevent the protesting farmers from entering the national capital.

Hem Singh, who lives in Haryana's Karnal, said he was going to northeast Delhi to attend a wedding when his bus decided to halt nearly a kilometre from the border. “My nephew is getting married in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri on Wednesday and we are stuck here due to traffic. The bus driver stopped the vehicle a kilometre before the border, and so, we're now walking towards Delhi since we don't know whether we will get any vehicle”, news agency PTI quoted Singh as saying.

"We were aware of the farmers' march, but had no idea that we would get stuck here. I've asked my wife and daughter to return to Panipat, but my daughter is very excited to attend her cousin's wedding," Singh told PTI.

Another commuter – Satya Prakash from Himachal Pradesh – reportedly had no idea that the border was sealed for the vehicular movement. "We came all the way from Himachal Pradesh for some work. We have to go to Delhi. The bus driver dropped the vehicle at the border from where we are walking towards the city," Prakash reportedly said.

Among other things, the farmers – largely from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh – are demanding the implementation of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Satpal Sharma, who was travelling back home to Chhatarpur from Panipat, told PTI that the bus conductor had wrongly charged them the full fare for travel. "We had gone to Panipat to attend a wedding and were returning home in south Delhi's Chhatarpur. The bus conductor charged us the full fare from Panipat to Kashmere Gate and when we asked him to return the amount, he said it was not their fault," Sharma reportedly said.

Pintu Singh, who was on his way to Faridabad from Ambala, along with his wife and one-year-old daughter, lamented, "This is not fair on the part of the authorities. How can I cross the border on foot while carrying my daughter in my arms? We have to go to Faridabad and we are not sure whether we will get any public transport."

Another commuter, Sonu Kumar, who was travelling to his workplace in Noida along with his colleagues, quipped, “If the protest goes on for long, we will have to find alternative options. We might also have to think of taking up a room on rent in Noida”.

(With inputs from PTI)