A day after rejoicing farmers left for their homes, the Tikri border stretch of Rohtak Road was opened for vehicular movement on Sunday, while work was underway to clear the protest sites at Ghazipur and Singhu borders of the national capital.
According to police, barricades put up at one side of the carriageway on Rohtak Road were removed in October to allow movement of traffic. The other side of the carriageway, where the farmers were agitating, was completely cleared by the Delhi Police on Sunday, they said.
The multi-layered barriers placed at the Rohtak Road have been completely removed after the departure of the farmers, a senior police officer said.
“There is no obstruction in the way. The two sides of the road are completely open for vehicular traffic movement,” he said.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had laid siege on Delhi's borders on November 26 last year, demanding a repeal of three contentious farm laws of the Centre, which were repealed last month.
According to farmer leaders, Singhu border site has been cleared by over 95% and a cleaning exercise has been initiated by farmer groups and non-government organisations (NGOs) on Sunday.
“Cleaning work is going on at the Singhu Border. More than 20 JCBs and over 100 volunteers are working here tirelessly to clear the stretch as soon as possible,” a representative of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said.
He said that layers of barricades, boulders and barbed wires are being removed from the border.
At Ghazipur border, more than half of the farmers have vacated the protest site and left for their native places. The process of dismantling rest of the tents is underway.
‘Stage taken down’
“A stage on one of the roads occupied during the agitation has been taken down. The remaining part of the road will also be cleared for traffic movement. Most of the farmers have already left, while those associated with the BKU are still here and will leave as decided before December 15,” said Atul Tripathi, a farmer and member of the BKU.
Two langars are still functioning and they will be wrapped up when the rest of farmers leave, he said.
