Villagers stop protest against farmers after NH lane opens
Industry owners say blockade at Shahjahanpur hits production
ALWAR/ KOTA: Villagers on Monday stopped their protest against blockade of the Jaipurdelhi national highway due to the farmers’ agitation in Shahjahanpur after a lane of the NH was opened to traffic, police said.
Villagers living near the Rajasthan-haryana border conducted a mahapanchayat on Sunday to protest the highway blockade by the farmers agitating against the Centre’s three contentious laws.
“Our work and employment has been adversely affected due to the blockade, so farmers must immediately remove the blockade,” said Sumer Singh, a villager who participated in the mahapanchayat.
Farmer leader Rampal Jat said, “It is the Haryana police and not the agitating farmers who have blocked the highway. Farmers want to march to Delhi but Haryana police stopped them by putting up barricades on the highway. So the villagers should create pressure on the Haryana police for removing the blockade.”
Bhiwadi SP Ram Murti Joshi said senior police officials of Rajasthan and Haryana met on Sunday evening and discussed the stand-off between villagers and farmers. “After the meeting, the sleep lane on the highway in Shahjahanpur was opened by Haryana police on Monday. The highway was closed on December 31 after some farmers forcibly crossed Haryana border,” Joshi said. “Tension has been eased after opening of the sleep lane and now there are no villagers on the highway.”
Rampal Jat claimed that the protesting villagers belong to Haryana who had come to Shahjahanpur for disturbing the farmers’ agitation.
Meanwhile, Alwar district administration has appointed officials, including chief executive officers of Nimrana and Behror municipal bodies, for ensuring arrangements like washrooms for the farmers at the agitation site.
Owners of industrial units in Nimrana said the blockade on the national highway has hit production.
“There are over 800 industries in Nimran. All witnessed a dip in industrial production,” said KG Kaushik, general secretary of the Nimrana Industries Association.
Asked about the extent of production loss, Kaushik said, “Industrial production is down by 50% since the blockade of the highway. Most of the raw material is transported through the highway. Industrial workers of Alwara and Haryana travel to Nimrana through the highway. So the blockade has halted industrial production to a great extent.”
Kaushik said industries are not able to transport raw material through alternative rural routes as they are not broad enough.
He said Japanese industrial units in Nimrana are also facing production losses. “Many industries have shut down for 10 days due to lack of raw material in Nimrana. The industrial hub is facing loss of at least Rs 20-25 crore daily due to the highway blockade,” he said. “Small and medium industries are the worst sufferers since they depend on daily raw material transportation due to lack of storage facilities.”
The Bhiwadi SP also admitted that the industrial units and their workers are facing problems due to the highway blockade in Shahjahanpur.
farmers’ leader