Farmers' group blocks all lanes of National Highway-9 during Bharat Bandh

Ghaziabad, Mar 26: Farmers belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union on Friday blocked all the lanes of the National Highway-9 as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's three farm laws.

The farmers also obstructed traffic at Eastern Peripheral Expressway - a major road near Delhi. Farmer unions protesting against the laws had called for a 'Bharat Bandh' from 6 am to 6 pm on Friday which marks four months of the agitation by farmers on Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

The protesters staged a sit-in at the road that connects Nizamuddin to Ghaziabad. SP (rural) Iraj Raja told PTI that ample force was deployed at the Ghazipur border and the entire district was divided in zones and sectors where magistrates along with police officers were patrolling.

District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey, who was monitoring the farmers protest along with IG zone Meerut Praveen Kumar, said no untoward incident took place during the bandh.

Road and rail traffic was disrupted in several parts of Punjab and Haryana during the Bharat bandh called by farmers on Friday as part of their nationwide protest against the three agri laws though there was partial response to it in other parts of the country.

Farmers blocked national highways and other key roads at many places in Punjab and Haryana, and squatted on railway tracks at several locations. The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the farmers' stir, called for the bandh from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

A railway spokesperson said four Shatabdi trains were cancelled, 35 other passenger trains were detained and the movement of 40 goods trains was affected by the protests. "Barring some limited number of trains in Punjab and Haryana, the bandh has had almost zero impact across the nation. Other than in these two states, around five to six trains were delayed for some time. Less than 0.5 per cent of trains impacted nationally. Trains are running smoothly," said Railway spokesperson DJ Narain.

Train movement was disrupted at 44 locations that fall under the Delhi, Ambala and Ferozepur divisions of the railways. In Uttar Pradesh's Ballia, as many as 20 activists of CPI (M-L), protesting in Sikandarpur township of the district, were taken into custody.