<div>The Karnataka government and the Bengaluru Police badly mishandled the farmers’ agitation which choked the city for hours on Thursday and inconvenienced the people. The government <br />could not stop the farmers from coming into the city to protest against its failure to meet their demands. The police mismanaged the situation with thousands of farmers swarming into the city with their trucks and tractors and blocking arterial roads around the heart of the city. Normal life was badly disrupted and large numbers of people were put to great hardship. Many people were stranded on roads and could not make it in time to their offices and other destinations. Patients were stuck in ambulances. Hundreds of people missed their flights. All the inconvenience, loss of time and other difficulties could have been avoided if the government had given a thought to the situation well in time and taken the right steps to avert it.<br /><br />The agitation programme was known to the government well in advance. There were also intelligence reports about the plans. But neither the government nor the police had a well-thought-out strategy to deal with it. It was first decided to stop the trucks and the tractors on the outskirts, but later it was agreed to let 500 of them inside the city. Finally, there were no restraint and restrictions: farmers did not park their vehicles in the allotted area, many roads were choked and there was public distress and inconvenience. The police also had to use force against farmers. All this has happened before, but the police did not learn any lessons from past experiences. While the plan to stop the farmers on the outskirts was sure to fail, the police could have thought of stopping the trucks and tractors further afield, perhaps near villages and small towns. An agitation with farmers’ vehicles entering the city was always a prescription for disaster. It could also have led to a worse situation than seen on Thursday. There was total failure on the part of the government to foresee the situation and to handle it effectively.<br /><br />The situation would not have arisen if the government had responded to the farmers’ demands. They have been demanding permanent irrigation and drinking water facilities in many districts which are in the grip of water shortage. They have been on the path of agitation for many months. While the demand is genuine, the government has not come forward with any good steps or plans to solve the problem. They came to the City to know why. <br /><br /></div>
<div>The Karnataka government and the Bengaluru Police badly mishandled the farmers’ agitation which choked the city for hours on Thursday and inconvenienced the people. The government <br />could not stop the farmers from coming into the city to protest against its failure to meet their demands. The police mismanaged the situation with thousands of farmers swarming into the city with their trucks and tractors and blocking arterial roads around the heart of the city. Normal life was badly disrupted and large numbers of people were put to great hardship. Many people were stranded on roads and could not make it in time to their offices and other destinations. Patients were stuck in ambulances. Hundreds of people missed their flights. All the inconvenience, loss of time and other difficulties could have been avoided if the government had given a thought to the situation well in time and taken the right steps to avert it.<br /><br />The agitation programme was known to the government well in advance. There were also intelligence reports about the plans. But neither the government nor the police had a well-thought-out strategy to deal with it. It was first decided to stop the trucks and the tractors on the outskirts, but later it was agreed to let 500 of them inside the city. Finally, there were no restraint and restrictions: farmers did not park their vehicles in the allotted area, many roads were choked and there was public distress and inconvenience. The police also had to use force against farmers. All this has happened before, but the police did not learn any lessons from past experiences. While the plan to stop the farmers on the outskirts was sure to fail, the police could have thought of stopping the trucks and tractors further afield, perhaps near villages and small towns. An agitation with farmers’ vehicles entering the city was always a prescription for disaster. It could also have led to a worse situation than seen on Thursday. There was total failure on the part of the government to foresee the situation and to handle it effectively.<br /><br />The situation would not have arisen if the government had responded to the farmers’ demands. They have been demanding permanent irrigation and drinking water facilities in many districts which are in the grip of water shortage. They have been on the path of agitation for many months. While the demand is genuine, the government has not come forward with any good steps or plans to solve the problem. They came to the City to know why. <br /><br /></div>
