Farmers block expressway near Ghaziabad's Dasna

DIG Amit Pathak told PTI that the farmers parked their tractor-trailers on the expressway near Dasna town of the Masuri police station area.

Farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws blocked both sides of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Dasna town here on Saturday.

The call for a 24-hour blockade was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the agitation.

The blockade started at 8 am and will last 24 hours till Sunday morning. DIG Amit Pathak told PTI that the farmers parked their tractor-trailers on the expressway near Dasna town of the Masuri police station area. To prevent any untoward incident, security personnel were deployed in the area.

The vehicles en route to Panipat and Sonipat were diverted from Khekhra towards Baghpat.

Similarly, the vehicles going to Noida were diverted to the National Highway-9 from Hapur, Pathak said.

On the other hand, the protesting farmers criticised the Centre for not withdrawing its contentious laws and raised anti-government slogans.

Bharatiya Kisan Union media incharge Dharmendra Malik said their protest will continue at borders of the national capital till their demands are not met. Hundreds of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri (along Haryana), and Ghazipur--demanding a repeal of the three laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

The Centre says the new farm laws will free farmers from middlemen, giving them more options to sell their crops.

The protesting farmers, however, say the laws will weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

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