Announcing that farmers will block the Western Peripheral Expressway or Kundli–Manesar–Palwal (KMP) Expressway on March 6 as their agitation against the farm laws completes 100 days, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in a statement said the farmers will block the expressway for 5 hours between 11 AM and 4 PM.
Farmer leader Balvir Singh Rajewal said, "March 6 will mark the 100th day of the farmers' protest on the borders of Delhi. On that day, there will be a 5-hour blockade on the KMP Expressway connecting various protest sites. The blockade will be between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. and no toll will be collected at the toll plazas during this time.”
"In the rest of the country, the day will be marked by hoisting black flags on houses and offices to support the movement. The SKM members will be wearing black bands on that day as a mark of protest," he added.
The Western Peripheral Expressway is a 6-lane (each direction) road, which is a 135-km expressway. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. It provides a high-speed link between the northern and southern districts of Haryana. The road was built to decongest the roads of Delhi by reducing the number of trucks entering the national capital.
The SKM will observe 'Mahila Kisan Diwas' on March 8, which happens to be International Women’s Day. Women's organisations and others have been called on that day to support the farmers' movement.
SKM is planning strategies and members of the farmer’s body will visit the poll-bound states Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory Puducherry to participate in various programmes, said Rajewal.
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SKM and Central Trade unions will mark March 15 as the day as 'anti-privatisation day and will support the call of the trade unions by noting the day as ‘anti-corporatisation’ day. The farmer bodies have extended solidarity to the protests of trade unions across the country.
'MSP Dilao Abhiyan', will also be launched, said SKM.
Thousands of farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — demanding a complete withdrawal of the three farm laws enacted in September last year by the Centre, claiming that will make farming sector private and leave them at the mercy of the corporates, while the government has remained adamant in their view that these newly enacted laws will increase farmers income and bring innovative changes in the agriculture sector.