Over 60,000 farmers protesting at Delhi borders, situation unsustainable: Police

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are protesting over the past few weeks at the borders of the national capital. The agriculture bills, which the government says would bring in reforms to Indian agriculture, have resulted in widespread protests among the farmers.

The protests are intensifying with every passing day as thousands of more protesters are joining the agitation each day. The crowd at the Delhi-Haryana border has become so huge that the Haryana police has termed the situation as 'unsustainable', warning that the borders can't take more people.

Over 60,000 protestors are camping at the borders, the state police have said even though farmer leaders claim the number is much higher. Other than Punjab and Haryana, the protest is seeing participation from the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country.

Check posts have been installed by the police at Punjab and Haryana borders to restrict further movement. "The idea is that people feel there is police presence at the borders to minimise movement of protesters," a Haryana police officer was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

"We have made preparations that if we need to seal the borders, we should be able to do it. As of now, borders have not been sealed to avoid inconvenience to commuters,” Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava told IE.

On Monday, at least 40 farmer leaders of the Sanyukt Morcha sat on a hunger strike at the Singhu Border and Singari Border of Delhi to protest against the new farm laws. Farmers were also on hunger strike at all toll plazas including Ghazipur. Apart from this, farmers protested at district headquarters across the country. Delhi government ministers and MLAs also sat on a dharna.

Meanwhile, a group of 10 farmers' unions from seven states on Monday extended their support to the Central government over its decision to undertake the necessary amendments in the three contentious farm laws.

Under the banner of the All-India Kisan Coordination Committee (AIKCC), the group of farmers belonging to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra, the unions were convinced that the recent farm acts are for the benefit of farmers across India and will save farmers from the clutches of middlemen who exploited them over the years.

The unions expressed their support after a meeting with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at his office.