Noida/Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) Thousands of farmers from around 100 villages of Noida and Greater Noida on Thursday took to the streets seeking hiked compensation, bringing traffic to a standstill in several parts of Delhi-NCR as they made an unsuccessful bid to march towards Parliament.
Barricades were set up at Chilla border with Noida Police on one side and Delhi Police on the other side to prevent protesters, who started their march from Mahamaya Flyover in Noida around 12 pm, from entering the national capital.
Several police personnel were in anti-riot gears equipped with tear gas shells and water cannons, even as personnel from the rapid action force and provincial armed constabulary were deployed at the Chilla border, officials said.
Thousands of villagers, including women and elderly, joined the march, to press for their demands for hiked compensation and developed plots in lieu of their land acquired by local development authorities in Noida and Greater Noida in the past.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait joined the protesters in Greater Noida in the afternoon where his Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) members have been protesting outside the local authority office.
In Noida, the protesters were led by the Bharatiya Kisan Parishad (BKP), whose activists have been holding camps outside the local authority office since December 2023.
The farmers from around 100 villages were led by the BKP after they assembled at the Mahamaya Flyover in Noida around 12 pm on Thursday, with a proposed plan to march towards the Parliament.
Later, a scuffle broke out between several villagers and security personnel as they tried to detain local farmer leaders, including BKP leader Sukhbir Yadav ‘Khalifa’, near the Dalit Prerna Sthal.
Later in the night, a meeting between government officials, police and a delegation of protesting farmers was organised in Noida, and is believed to be still going on.
A BKP member told PTI that the farmers’ delegation would comprise 20 members led by BKP leader Sukhbir Yadav ‘Khalifa’.
The other side would include representatives of district administration, CEOs of Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Authority, the police commissioner, and officials of the UP Industrial Development Department, the BKP member added.
In Greater Noida, BKU leader Tikait called for ‘Bharat Bandh’ on February 16 citing a host of issues impacting farmers, youth, daily wagers, among others.
“All sections of society should come together and work towards making the Bharat Bandh on 16th February a success for their pending demands,” Tikait said in a post in Hindi on X.
The protest march also slowed down movement of vehicular traffic at various routes, including the key stretches of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and DND Flyway and also had a ripple effect in Delhi.
Motorists spent hours in the crawling traffic at the Delhi-Noida link road near Mayur Vihar in Delhi, as police personnel with heavy equipment were on alert to deal with any eventuality in case protesting farmers reached there.
At the border, heavy duty bulldozers, backhoe machines, riot control vehicles and water cannons were parked strategically, officials said.
According to the Delhi Traffic Police, heavy traffic was also witnessed at DND, Chilla, and Ghazipur borders.
At Sarita Vihar in south Delhi, several vehicles going towards Noida through Kalindi Kunj were stuck in the jam, the officials said.
The police also issued a traffic advisory, cautioning the commuters against diversions on some routes in the twin cities in view of the farmers’ movement on tractors.
Between 12 pm and 5 pm, heavy traffic jams were witnessed on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, DND loop, Kanlindi Kunj bridge, around Dalit Prerna Sthal, Atta Chowk and Rajnigandha Chowk in Noida.
Similar snarls were witnessed at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida, with the police saying that they were making efforts to ensure smooth traffic movement.
Ahead of the protest by the farmers in Noida and Greater Noida, the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police had imposed CrPC Section 144 for Wednesday and Thursday. PTI KIS NIT COR BM VIT SLB SLB KVK KVK
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