NEW DELHI: Delhi and Ghaziabad remained on tenterhooks on Tuesday as more than 25,000 agitating farmers stayed put at the UP border on NH-24, waiting to be allowed into the capital.Some protesters clashed with police, who used water cannon and teargas shells to stop them from entering Delhi, leading to several farmers and cops getting injured.In view of the continuing agitation, the Ghaziabad administration announced that the UP Gate on NH-24 and the Hindon elevated corridor will remain shut for traffic on Wednesday.This is likely to lead to major disruptions when people return to work after Tuesday’s holiday. All schools in Ghaziabad have also been declared shut for a day.Apart from the hour-long clashes with the cops, the highway sit-in was largely uneventful on Tuesday, as most of the protesters decided to wait for the outcome of the talks between their leaders and government representatives.As the talks between farmer leaders and the government did not make much headway, the protesters settled down on the road for the night. Their protesters have announced that the farmers will remain camped at the Ghazipur border till the government accepted all their demands.Fogging was carried out on the NH-24 stretch across the UP border at night to keep mosquitoes away from the protesters.The protests kicked off around 9am when farmers gathered at the national highway in large numbers. Delhi Police had made elaborate arrangements to contain them at the border and stop any entry of tractors and trolleys. By 10am, more than 500 tractors were seen parked on the other side of the border.The police began talks with the elders and group leaders asking them to wait for the talks between their representatives and the government to end. However, a section of the crowd suddenly turned violent and tried to drive their tractortrolleys through the three layers of strong barricading.Some also resorted to stone pelting and wielded lathis causing injuries to police personnel deployed on duty. A DCP sustained head injuries and an ACP fractured his arm amongst others.“Only the minimum required force was used to contain these aggressive protesters. After using water cannon and teargas shells on a limited scale, the situation was brought under control, and thereafter use of any force was discontinued. Instead, we used talks and persuasion to maintain order,” Delhi Police spokesperson Madhur Verma said.Following the initially clashes, the farmers were contained to an area under the Ghazipur flyover where they were allowed to set up a makeshift stage and use microphones to address the gathering.Some others, like Teher Singh, a former farmer leader from Unnao who has been vocal against the growing burden of loans since 1984, were carried to the protest site by their kin.“I had insisted on travelling to the venue after I came to know about the issues being addressed. However, I am barely able to walk in a protest march, so I took the help of my children. The low returns from sugarcane plantations have led us to borrow huge sums at heavy interest rates which we cannot pay. We were hoping to reach out to the government at Jantar Mantar so that they resolve this issue for us,” said Singh.

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