Thousands of dead fish have been found floating in the Najafgarh drain near the Dhansa regulator, raising concerns about pollution levels. Activists attribute the deaths to the inflow of untreated residential effluents and industrial wastes, exacerbated by rising temperatures.
At least 28 people died in rain-related incidents Sunday as heavy downpours lashed north and northwest India, causing landslides, traffic chaos and house collapses, as well as a dam breach which inundated several villages in Haryana.
Traffic snarls were reported from different parts of the national capital on Saturday as rain continued to lash New Delhi for the third consecutive day.
While it hit the national capital two days before schedule, its entry into the financial capital is two weeks late, the Met office said.
Two tribal men died after they were allegedly assaulted by a group of 15-20 people over suspicion of cow slaughter in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district, police said on Tuesday.
In a series of tweets, the Delhi Traffic Police said Tikri and Dhansa borders are closed for traffic movement, while Jhatikara border is open only for two-wheelers and pedestrians.
Protesting farmers will block key roads and occupy toll plazas during their 'chakka jam' protest from 11 am to 3 pm.
Thousands of farmers camping at the Tikri borders are largely seen without the basic preventive measure against COVID-19 -- protective masks.
Dhansa and Jharoda Kalan borders were closed for traffic movement due to the demonstration and commuters were asked to take an alternative route, the Delhi Traffic Police said.
The farmers' agitation, which has entered its fourth week, has also led to traffic diversions at various border points causing inconvenience to commuters.
The Delhi Traffic Police took to Twitter to inform commuters about alternative routes open for travelling to the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at various border of Delhi for almost four weeks now as formal talks between the government and representatives of farmers' unions remained deadlocked with protesting peasants refusing to accept anything less than a repeal of the newly enacted laws.
Another round of discussions between the farmer unions and Centre is slated for Saturday.
The protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been at the border points of the national capital for almost 40 days now, braving the bone-chilling cold weather in the region.
Thousands of agriculturists, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting against the laws for the last over four weeks at various border points of Delhi and demanding that the legislations be repealed.
The deadlock continues as the seventh round of talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, with the farmer groups sticking to their demand for the repeal of the three new laws, and the government listing out various benefits of the new Acts.
The farmers have said the weather will not dampen their spirit and they will continue the protest till their demands are met.
The government and farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning.
The farmers threatened to intensify their agitation and block more roads if the government did not accept their demand.
Farmers have been protesting at various places in Delhi and Haryana and have rejected the central government's offer to hold talks on December 3 saying that imposing conditions for starting a dialogue is an insult to them.
Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu had said that 32 farmer unions from Punjab held a meeting on Tuesday and discussed the next course of action.
The Delhi police had on Saturday increased security arrangements by deploying additional personnel and placing more concrete barriers.
According to them, these marches were a "rehearsal" for their proposed January 26 "Kisan Parade" to the national capital from different parts of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
There is no protest yet on Delhi's borders with Gurgaon and at other points of National Highway-8 that connects the national capital with Jaipur, a senior police officer said.
Farmers had threatened to block other roads of Delhi in the coming days if the new agriculture laws are not scrapped soon.
The government and the farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve the protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
Police said farmers have been allowed to hold peaceful protest at the Nirankari Ground in north Delhi.
While the police have kept the Haryana-Delhi border at Singhu and Tikri closed for traffic, the protest at Ghazipur, the city's border with Uttar Pradesh, has also intensified.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal was attacked on Friday by an unidentified man, who was assaulted by his party activists, while campaigning in Haryana's Charkhi Dadri
Security was stepped up after farmers threatened to block more highways connecting the national capital.
Those gathered at the Tikri border continued to hold ground as wellA decision on whether they would head to the designated protest site is expected soon.
Hitting out at Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged they were snatching land from farmers and giving it to industrialists.
Delhi continued to reel under massive traffic jams due to waterlogging as heavy rains lashed the city for second consecutive day on Saturday flooding several arterial roads and leaving commuters stranded for hours while exposing civic bodies' lack of preparedness to deal with the perennial problem.
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