Delhi Police has increased security and is on high alert

NEW DELHI: In response to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) demand for a “Bharat Bandh,” authorities in the national capital claimed on Friday that the Delhi Police is on high alert and that security has been reinforced. Barricades have been erected in a few locations across the national capital, which might impact traffic, according to police.

In order to force the BJP-led federal government to grant farmers’ demands—among them a legally binding guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops—the SKM has called for a “Bharat Bandh.”

Punjabi farmers started their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Tuesday, but at the border crossings of Shambhu and Khanauri, which separate Delhi from Haryana, security guards intervened.
Since then, the farmers who are protesting have set up camp near the border crossings. On Friday, their discontent reached its fourth day.

The two border crossings between Haryana and Delhi were still blocked to traffic, and a large number of security officers with anti-riot gear were stationed there.
Commuters have been having trouble getting through certain areas because of the border shutdown.
At the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh, traffic is permitted.

According to police authorities, Delhi Police has erected barriers in the city’s center that lead to the Parliament and other key places and is maintaining an additional watch.
According to a police spokesman, Delhi Police is on high alert due to the SKM’s demand for a “Bharat Bandh.”

According to a senior police official, the bandh may have an impact on city traffic flow.
Leaders of the opposing farmer unions and three Union ministers met for an extended period on Thursday night, but the discussion ended without a resolution. The fourth round of negotiations between the two parties is scheduled for this Sunday.

The leaders of the farmers said that they will remain at the two Punjab-Haryana border crossings.
The boundaries of Tikri and Singhu are heavily guarded. Barricades, barbed wire, and concrete blocks in many levels have been erected to prevent farmers from accessing the nation’s capital.
During the first three days of the protest, GT Karnal Road near Mukarba Chowk saw a lot of traffic as police blocked the route with cement blocks and barricades.

Drones have been used by Delhi Police to monitor the situation at the Singhu border, and the BSF Tear Smoke Unit has been tasked with delivering around 30,000 tear gas shells.
In addition to a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the following: the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, waivers of farm debt, police cases against them being dropped, “justice” for the victims of the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during an earlier agitation in 2020–21.