After Delhi Police started removing barricades and cemented blocks that had been put at Gazipur and Tikri borders due to farmers protest, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said the general public was facing a lot of problems so the barricades were opened for their convenience.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Asthana said, "General public who travel on regular basis was facing a lot of problem due to this, so we decided to open the borders for the sake of their convenience."
He also said that barricades continued due to the farmers' protest which affected interstate travel of people and commercial vehicles. "After holding talks with farm leaders, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana police officials, it was decided to open borders and create a positive atmosphere," he said.
Assuring the preparedness to tackle any kind of situation in Delhi, Asthana said that the national capital is ready to deal with any situation.
"We will act in a graded manner. We are also preparing to tackle any law and order situation if it arises. We are prepared for any situation. We want to give a message that the situation is normal. I am confident that we'll handle any situation," he added.
Earlier today, Delhi police have started removing barricades and cemented blocks put up at the Gazipur and Tikri borders after the blockage of almost 11 months due to the farmers' agitation against Central farm laws.
On Thursday, police started the process of removing barricades placed at the Tikri border allowing traffic movement from New Delhi to Haryana.
This initiative have been taken after Supreme Court on October 21 said that farmers have the right to protest but roads cannot be blocked indefinitely.
The barricades were placed in the wake of the January 26 violence during the farmers' protest.
Thousands of protestors broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism across several parts of the national capital during their tractor rally organised to protest against the Centre's three new farm laws on January 26 this year.
Farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the three enacted farm laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
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