Leaking tents and wet mattresses fail to dampen spirits at the Capital’s borders
Their tents are broken and leaking. Rotten vegetables are lying all around. The mattresses have become wet. Yet, nothing can budge the farmers protesting the new laws at Delhi’s borders.
The areas witnessed heavy rains in the early hours of Monday. The protesters said that they have braved the rains earlier as well, but no extreme weather can deter their will to continue the stir.
Jagseer Singh, the district president of Bharatiya Kisan Union from Barnala, who has been protesting at the Tikri border said that it started raining around 2 a.m. on Monday. “The tarpaulins, which protect the tents from the rains, were put up months ago. They are not equipped to hold rainwater, due to which most of them came down, resulting in water inside the tents,” he said.
Sukhbir Singh from Patiala said, “Vegetables that were inside a trolley, which is designed for them, remained safe. But the rest along with the flour got destroyed as well. Cooking remained a problem all through Monday.”
He added that people spent the night on wet mattresses. “Many protestors are lodging in wet trucks and trolleys”.
Sukhwinder Singh Barwa from Ropar who has been protesting at the Singhu border and is an active member of Sanjhi Sathh – an initiative by protesters to help children study at the border – said water filled the area up to 2 feet on Monday.
“It was impossible to walk. Many elderly people couldn’t get out of their trolleys for breakfast or lunch in the morning. We arranged food for them and delivered it in their trolleys,” he said.