The Uttar Pradesh government has filed a Status Report in the Supreme Court on the issue of removal of road blockade due to the farmers’ agitation on the Delhi-UP border.
The report was filed on Sunday by Rajendra Pratap Singh, Special Secretary, Department of Home, Civil Secretariat, State of UP through Advocate Kamlendra Mishra.
In the report, the state government said that continuous efforts are being made to remove the blockade. Farmers are being explained to remove the illegally imposed barriers at the protest site, but most of the ryots present at the protest site are elderly.
“There are at present about 141 tents and 31 langars around the area, and the protestors have installed a platform on the flyover, from where the leaders give speeches. A media house has also been made below the flyover. At present, there are about 800-1000 protestors in the area, however, a crowd of up to 15,000 protestors collect on their call within hours from adjoining towns and villages,” read the affidavit.
The state government authorities in Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) convinced the farmer’s unions to end the agitation from Chilla border. Following that, the traffic movement was made free from obstruction on January 27, 2021. However, traffic has been diverted from the ‘blocked’ NH-24/9 (Delhi-Ghaziabad) to ensure smooth traffic movement.
According to the report, alternate routes have been made as temporary arrangements for the convenience of commuters from Ghaziabad, Hindon and Maharajpur borders to Delhi due to the farmers’ agitation.
The UP government further stated that state administrative officials and Police officials have approached the protesting farmers and made “tireless efforts to make them understand their grossly illegal act of blocking public roads, causing grave inconvenience to the travellers.”
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The state government filed the report on a PIL filed in the apex court by a resident of Noida, seeking removal of road-blocks created by the protesting farmers. The Supreme Court will hear the PIL on Monday.
The farmers began their protests in August, 2020 against the three new agriculture laws passed by Parliament in September last year.