Delhi / Gates of 2 metro stations including Bahadurgarh City shut amid farmers' protest: DMRC

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday closed the entry and exit gates at two of its stations in view of the security situation over farmers' agitation. "Entry and exit for Pandit Shree Ram Sharma and Bahadurgarh City have been closed," Delhi Metro tweeted.

The two stations are near Tikri border with Haryana, one of the sites of the ongoing farmers protests. These station fall on the Green Line of the network.

Vehicular movement was also affected at Jhandewalan-Panchkuian road in the national capital ahead of protests led by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over the farm laws. In a traffic advisory, Delhi Traffic Police said both the routes on the Jharoda Kalan border will remain closed because of the protests. Traffic from the Pusa roundabout going towards Shankar Road has also been diverted towards Pusa Road.

SAD leaders Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal have decided to hold a protest march to Parliament on Friday as the party is observing September 17 as 'Black Day' on completion of one year of enactment of the three contentious farm laws. The protest march will be held from Delhi's Gurdwara Rakabganj to the Parliament, demanding repeal of the three laws.

The three farm laws that were passed last year include the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.

The three legislation opened the agriculture sector to the private players of the country, prompting countrywide protests by farmers' unions. The agitators claim that the laws are anti farmers and it would erode a longstanding mechanism that ensures farmers a minimum guaranteed price for their produce. However, the government says this will help growers get better prices.

Since the agitation began in November last year, the Union government has had several rounds of discussions but failed to bring any resolution to the impasse. Farmers are firm on their demands of complete repeal of laws and say they will not back down until the government agrees. In November, the farmers' agitation will complete one year.