Farmers' march: Authorities in Haryana put up barricades on borders with Punjab

Asserting that farmers of Punjab will not be allowed to enter Haryana, police said they have placed water cannons and ambulances on the borders. Haryana Police's Ambala Range IG Y Puran Kumar told reporters that the Shambhu inter-state border will be sealed for two days from November 26.

Ahead of the farmers' protest march to Delhi against the Centre's farm laws, authorities in Haryana on Wednesday began setting up road barricades on borders with Punjab and deployed additional police forces to prevent farmers' entry into the state. A Punjab Police officer on duty at Khanauri inter-state border told reporters that the Haryana Police used cranes to put boulders on roads and the movement of traffic to the other side has been stopped.

"We are diverting traffic from alternate routes now. We are also ensuring that the movement of essential goods is not affected," he said. Asserting that farmers of Punjab will not be allowed to enter Haryana, police said they have placed water cannons and ambulances on the borders.

Haryana Police's Ambala Range IG Y Puran Kumar told reporters that the Shambhu inter-state border will be sealed for two days from November 26. "Once the movement of farmers takes place from Punjab side, the Haryana Police will act accordingly. So far, the border has not been sealed, those instructions are for November 26-27. But if movement (of farmers) takes place before that, we will act accordingly," the IG said.

He said a sufficient police force has been deployed to maintain law and order in the state. Restrictions have also been imposed at other inter-state border points with Punjab, including in Sirsa, Kurukshetra, and Jind districts.

Police have deployed additional force on Ambala-Rajpura Highway and Ambala- Chandigarh Highway and done multi-layer barricading on the highways. Haryana Police officials said they cannot allow the movement of a large number of people towards the national capital in view of restrictions due to COVID-19.

Haryana farmers, meanwhile, started to gather near Mohra village on the GT road near Ambala Cantt for their march to Delhi. The farmer leaders from Haryana claimed that their "Delhi Chalo" call for November 26 and 27 is on and they will proceed to the national capital in a peaceful manner.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday had said that the state borders with Punjab would remain sealed on November 26 and 27. On Tuesday, the Haryana Police had taken many farmer leaders into preventive custody, a move which evoked strong reaction from opposition Congress and farmer bodies.

A detailed advisory was also issued by police urging commuters to modify their travel plans as they may face traffic blockages on roads leading to Haryana from Punjab on November 25 and 26, and on entry points from Haryana to Delhi on November 26 and 27.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)