Hundreds of farmers blocked the busy Mysuru-Bengaluru highway for over three hours at Gejjalagere in the taluk on Sunday, demanding water for the tail-end villages of the taluk. The farmers have been demanding water to save the standing crops.
Traffic on the busy road came to a grinding halt with vehicles lining up for more than two kilometres on either side. Hundreds of farmers gathered on the highway at around 9.45 am with their cattle and bullock carts and began the protest by blocking the road. They raised slogans against the "anti-farmer policies" of the government.
Raitha Sangha taluk president G A Shankar said the farmers were annoyed over the failure of the elected representatives of the district to convince the government to release water from the KRS dam to save their crops.
Tahsildar Harsha and SP Sudhir Kumar Reddy, who rushed to the spot, tried to pacify the farmers and disperse them. But the farmers were adamant and refused to withdraw the protest until the deputy commissioner issued an order to release water to canals. This resulted in a heated exchange of words between the officials and the farmers.
Assistant Commissioner Arul Kumar arrived there at 12.30 pm and tried to pacify the protesters. The farmers' representatives submitted a memorandum to Arul Kumar urging him to release water to canals. Kumar said a decision will be taken after consulting District-in-charge Minister M Krishnappa and Deputy Commissioner Ziaulla.
The farmers withdrew the protest by evening, but warned of resuming it on Monday morning if the authorities failed to respond to their demands.
Hundreds of farmers blocked the busy Mysuru-Bengaluru highway for over three hours at Gejjalagere in the taluk on Sunday, demanding water for the tail-end villages of the taluk. The farmers have been demanding water to save the standing crops.
Traffic on the busy road came to a grinding halt with vehicles lining up for more than two kilometres on either side. Hundreds of farmers gathered on the highway at around 9.45 am with their cattle and bullock carts and began the protest by blocking the road. They raised slogans against the "anti-farmer policies” of the government.
Raitha Sangha taluk president G A Shankar said the farmers were annoyed over the failure of the elected representatives of the district to convince the government to release water from the KRS dam to save their crops.
Tahsildar Harsha and SP Sudhir Kumar Reddy, who rushed to the spot, tried to pacify the farmers and disperse them. But the farmers were adamant and refused to withdraw the protest until the deputy commissioner issued an order to release water to canals. This resulted in a heated exchange of words between the officials and the farmers.
Assistant Commissioner Arul Kumar arrived there at 12.30 pm and tried to pacify the protesters. The farmers’ representatives submitted a memorandum to Arul Kumar urging him to release water to canals. Kumar said a decision will be taken after consulting District-in-charge Minister M Krishnappa and Deputy Commissioner Ziaulla.
The farmers withdrew the protest by evening, but warned of resuming it on Monday morning if the authorities failed to respond to their demands.