Farmers block Delhi-Jaipur highway for over 2 hours

Gurugram, August 13

Miffed with the apathetic attitude of the government today, farmers blocked the Pachgaon Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur highway for over 2 hours.

Farmers have been protesting peacefully for the past 53 days against the decision of the government to acquire 1,810 acres in the Manesar area for the expansion of the IMT.

Gurnam Singh Chadhuni, the national president of the Indian Farmers’ Union, also reached the spot to support the farmers but was taken into custody by the police along with other farmers.

It was around 10am today, over 300 villagers of 25 surrounding villages along with women and youth sat on a dharna on both sides of the road at Pachgaon Chowk with Tricolour in their hands and put a tractor-trailer on the middle of the road. This led to a traffic jam on the highway. The police diverted the route to manage the traffic but still there was a traffic jam. The protesters were demanding cancellation of land acquisition or they sought a compensation of Rs 10 crore per acre according to the market rate.

“When the government can release the land in other six areas, including Bawal, then there should be no problem in releasing the land of four villages of the Manesar region. A compensation should be paid by the government for the acquired 1,810 acres according to the current market price”, said protester Roshan Lal, a resident of Kasan village. In the protest, a large number of farmers and women were present.

After getting information, the police reached the spot and ADC Vishram Kumar Meena tried to pacify the farmers but they did not budge from the road. After over two hours, the police took around 80 farmers into custody. The protesters claimed that some women were injured as the police was using force to remove them from the road.

To manage the traffic, the police diverted vehicle going from Delhi to Jaipur from the Hero Honda Chowk via Pataudi. Similarly, some vehicles were evacuated from Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway (KMP). Due to the large number of vehicles coming from Jaipur side, the highway was jammed, though the police also diverted vehicles from Kapriwas cut and Bilaspur Chowk.

Later, a meeting between the district administration and the villagers was held at the Manesar tehsil office where the villagers demanded that they should allowed to meet the Chief Minister on this matter, in which the MLAs and MPs of this area should also be present and the date of award should be postponed further.

ADC Vishram Kumar Meena, who interacted with the villagers on behalf of the administration, has assured the villagers that after taking time from the Chief Minister, the villagers would meet him in a week. He said the awarding process was being done legally, so it was difficult to postpone it further from August 16.

As per the official statement issued by the district administration, the Gurugram police cleared the highway by taking the villagers into custody. They were brought to the Manesar police station in two buses and were released in the evening. While the police did not confirm about registering any FIR against the protesters.

Farmers oppose acquisition

• On behalf of the HSIIDC, 1,810 acres of Kasan, Khoh, Kukdaula and Sahrawan villages are being acquired. Before the awarding process, Section 4 notices were issued in 2010
• Now, the acquisition process is being completed. The award for this land is to be announced on August 16 and farmers are opposing the acquisition process

Pay as per current market price

“When the government can release the land in other six areas, including Bawal, then there should be no problem in releasing the land of four villages of the Manesar region. A compensation should be paid by the government for the acquired 1,810 acres according to the current market price,” said protester Roshan Lal, a resident of Kasan village