Farmers take to roads, traffic hit
NOIDA: Farmers protesting against the Noida authority to press their demand for better compensation and benefits in lieu of the land they gave for development purposes lay siege outside top officials’ residence in Sector 14-A on Thursday, causing vehicles to pile up on the Delhi-Noida Link road.
Farmers, who have been protesting against the authority since September 1, said they will intensify their agitation from Friday onwards if their demands are not accepted.
Around 1pm on Thursday, the farmers marched towards Sector 14-A, where the authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari and other top officials live, and staged a sit-in protest for at least three hours. They also blocked the Chilla border between Delhi and Noida.
According to the Noida traffic police, traffic movement on the Noida-Delhi border was affected between 2pm and 4.30pm and vehicles coming from Delhi to Noida were diverted towards DND Flyway and Ashok Vihar.
Ganesh Saha, deputy commissioner of police, (traffic) Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “The farmers reached Chilla border at 2pm and protested for two hours. We diverted the Delhibound traffic to the DND Flyway and towards Ashok Vihar.” The farmers left the spot at around 4.30 pm, he added.
Sukhbir Yadav, founder president of Bharatiya Kisan Parishad, who was leading the protest, said, “Our intention was not to trouble the public but to make our demands heard. We were barely there for two hours and restricted our protest to just one lane of the road.”
Ritika Saha, a commuter, was caught in a traffic jam on the Chilla border for half an hour. “The traffic police should have alerted the commuters in advance about such a protest,” he said.
The farmers returned to the protest site outside the Noida authority’s administrative building in Sector 6 around 5pm. The authority officials tried to discuss the issues with farmers but they refused to end the protest.
“We will not end the protest until we are given in writing that all our demands will be met and subsequently be accepted in the board meeting of the authority. We do not believe the authority officials because they have been fooling us for many years. If they do not accept our demands, we will launch an indefinite agitation,” said Yadav.
Farmers want 10% of residential land for their families against the total land acquired by the authority, 64% more compensation in addition to what they have got so far, old Abadi settlement in villages, unregulated construction in villages among other demands.
“Why does the authority have to regulate the buildings in the villages?...Villages should grow naturally,...” said Prempal Chauhan, a farmer from Nagli Wazidpur. Praveen Mishra, additional CEO of the Noida authority, said, “We are trying to discuss and address the farmers’ issues. We hope soon the issues will be resolved and the protest will be over.”