Sugarcane farmers take protest to other towns in Belagavi district

Protesting sugarcane farmers park tractors to block the National Highway near Hattargi as their strike enters the second day in Belagavi district on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER

The protest by sugarcane farmers that began in Belagavi on Tuesday spread to other places in the district on Wednesday.

Farmers in Gokak, Mudalagi, Gurlapur, Munnolli and other villages and towns began rasta roko on nearby roads as part of the protest.

Meanwhile, traffic on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway between Hubballi and Maharashtra border at Kuganoli was completely stopped.

The police diverted vehicles through alternative routes that can connect Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra through State Highways and District Main Roads.

Some seers met the protestors and expressed support to their cause.

Sri Nijagunananda Swami of Bailur Math said that the protest is not against any individual or party but against the anti-farmer policies of the government. If a government of any party at the Centre and in the State can frame policies favourable to trade and industries, then the same government should be able to frame policies that ensure welfare and prosperity of farmers.

“There is no confusion in this. That is why, I feel that the demands of farmers are fair and that the movement is non-political,” he said.