13 months on, all barricades removed from Singhu border; traffic resumes

The Delhi Police on Sunday removed all barricades from the National Highway No. 44 near the Singhu border, bringing relief to commuters and the industry in the region. The border was barricaded on February 13 last year to stop Punjab farmers’ march to the national capital.

While the traffic has resumed fully on the Delhi-Panipat lane, the police are working on removing the debris from the Panipat-Delhi lane.

Last year, the Delhi Police had sealed the main carriageway and the service lanes on both sides of the NH-44 with multilayered barricades to stop the entry of the protesting farmers into the national capital. However, the Haryana Police had stopped the farmers at the Shambhu border and they were not able to move towards Delhi.

Later, the police had reopened service lanes and single lanes on the main carriageway (flyover) of the NH-44 on March 13 last year, but the rest of the lanes had remained barricaded.

After the eviction of the protesting farmers from the Shambhu border recently, the Delhi Police had begun removing barricades from the Singhu border three-four days ago.

The Delhi Police have completely cleaned the main carriageway of the Delhi-Panipat lane and made it motorable. The barriers have also been removed from the Panipat-Delhi lane and debris is being removed. This lane is likely to be made fully operational on Monday.

Subhash Gupta, director, Kundli Industrial Association (KIA), said the Singhu border on the NH-44 was the main entry point for Delhi, with thousands of vehicles plying through the border daily. “The industry has suffered a lot due to the sealing of the border. The removal of the barricades has come as a big relief,” he said, adding that the finished goods and raw material could easily be transported from the industries now. Param Hans Solanki, president, Rai Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association, said the industry had endured great hardships due to the blockade but now the work would resume smoothly.

Dheeraj Chaudhary, director, KIA, said besides the industry, thousands of commuters would get a big relief with the complete reopening of the border.