CHANDIGARH: Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks and buses, were stranded on the national highways across Haryana on Thursday as the police put up barricades to prevent the protesting farmers from moving towards the national capital as part of their ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation.
Long queues of vehicles were seen on the Ambala-Delhi National Highway in Karnal city that connects Haryana with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The police blocked the stretch from Karnal Lake to Taraori town, diverting traffic to the link roads, officials said.
“We have been stranded for over 16 hours now,” said Rajinder Singh, a truck driver, who was heading to Punjab’s Jalandhar city.
Residents of several towns located along the Punjab-Haryana borders throughout the day faced a harrowing time due to the heavy deployment of security forces and snapping of bus services in the past 24 hours.
Farmers have swarmed roads and other open spaces. Several link roads entering Haryana have also been barricaded.
Showing humane approach, some farmers in Ambala city were seen making way for an ambulance.
The Haryana government had already issued a travel advisory for the commuters at the entry points from Punjab into Haryana for November 25 and 26.
A state police spokesperson had said that a large number of protesters are likely to enter Haryana from Punjab through various border entry points for their onward journey towards Delhi.
The main focus points of the protesters originating from within Haryana will be the four major National Highways leading towards Delhi, i.e., Ambala to Delhi, Hisar to Delhi, Rewari to Delhi and Palwal to Delhi.
The spokesperson said that to ensure law and order, it is likely that traffic diversion or road blocks by the police may be put in place till Friday.
There will be diversions on road entry points from Punjab into Haryana in Panchkula, Ambala, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts.
