New Delhi, December 24: Several borders of the national capital remained closed on Thursday due to the ongoing protest by farmers against the Centre's new agri laws. According to a latest update by the Delhi Traffic Police, the Chilla and Gazipur borders are now closed for traffic coming from Noida and Gaziabad to Delhi due to ongoing farmer protests. The Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet advised people to take alternate route for coming to Delhi via Anand Vihar, DND, Apsara, Bhopra and Loni borders. The closure of borders has also resulted in heavy traffic on alternative routes. Farmers' Group Sees Infighting Over Decision to Open Highway at Chilla Border, 3 Leaders Resign.

In another traffic update tweet, the Delhi Traffic Police stated that Singhu,  Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, Saboli and Mangesh borders are closed. "Please take alternate routes via Lampur, Safiabad, Palla and Singhu school toll tax borders. Traffic has been diverted from Mukarba and GTK road. Please avoid Outer Ring Rd, GTK road & NH 44", the tweet read. The security arrangements were tightened at the Chilla border between Delhi and Noida on Wednesday as farmer union leaders threatened to completely block the key border point.

Here's the tweet:

Thousands of farmers have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 26 on the trot, causing closure of several routes. The farmers' are protesting against the 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. Thousands of farmers had gathered from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of India, and  carried out peaceful protests at both the Singhu and Tikri borders.

The farm laws that were enacted in September, have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, the agitating farmers have expressed grave concerns that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2020 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).