Firm on their demands, farmers brave cold, rains as talks with govt remain deadlocked
New Delhi: Camping at Delhi borders for over a month now, protesting farmers seem undeterred in the face of severe cold, rains and waterlogging, and firm on their demands for repeal of farm laws and legal backing for MSP even as talks with the government remained inconclusive.
On Monday, the seventh round of talks were held to resolve the deadlock. The unions stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the new farm laws they find pro-corporate, while the government wanted to discuss only "problematic" clauses or other alternatives. The two sides will meet again on January 8.
Speaking to reporters after the meet, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said he expected positive talks and a possible resolution in the next meeting, but asserted that "efforts need to be made from both sides for a solution".
The protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been at the border points of the national capital for almost 40 days now, braving the bone-chilling cold weather in the region.
Sporadic rains have also lashed the city in the last couple of days, following which the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) arranged makeshift elevated beds in a tent provided by the organisation at the demonstration site near Singhu border.
The tent, located right beyond the main stage at the site, is pitched on the lower end of the highway, making it susceptible to waterlogging.
Since the farmers arrived at the national capital's borders in late November, the Delhi Traffic Police has been posting alerts on its official Twitter handle to inform commuters about road closures across the city.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the traffic police said Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, Saboli and Mangesh borders are closed for traffic movement.
"Please take alternate route via Lampur Safiabad, Palla & Singhu school toll tax borders. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba & GTK road. Please avoid Outer Ring Road, GTK Road & NH-44," it said.
"The Chilla and Ghazipur borders are closed for traffic coming from Noida & Ghaziabad to Delhi because of farmer protests. Please take alternate route for coming to Delhi via Anand Vihar, DND, Bhopra & Loni Borders," it added.
The traffic police said Tikri and Dhansa borders are also closed for traffic movement.
"Jhatikara Border is open only for LMV (Cars/Light Motor Vehicles), two wheelers and pedestrian movement," it said in another tweet.
According to the traffic police, people travelling to Haryana can take the routes via Jharoda (only single carriageway), Daurala, Kapashera, Badusarai, Rajokri NH-8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera borders.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
