JOIN USFarmers' 'chakka jam' protest paralyses traffic in Karnataka
The nationwide 'Chakka Jam' protest called by Samyukta Kisan Morcha against the proposed farm laws on Saturday evoked a good response in the state. The protest was largely
peaceful
Members of the various farmer organisations blocked highways across the state for two to three hours in the afternoon to register their protest against what they call the draconian farm laws.
Tens of farmers, under the banner of Kalasa Banduri Horata Samiti, blocked NH 4 at Kiresur village in Hubbali taluk for one hour. The protest resulted in a traffic pile-up on either side of the busy road. The police detained the agitators and cleared the traffic.
Traffic on NH 4 near Hirebagewadi Toll went haywire after the farmers, led by Siddagouda Modagi of Bharatiya Krishik Samaj, sat on a dharna on the road. The agitating farmers shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union and the state governments.
Babagouda Patil leads protest
At Chikkabagewadi in Bailhongal taluk former Union minister and farmer leader Babagouda Patil led a protest, blocking the state highway.
In Vijayapura district, farmers blocked the Hubballi-Kalaburagi NH 218, throwing traffic out of gear at Sindagi bypass.
Similar protests were witnessed in Ballari district, where hundreds of farmers, joined by members of the various people’s organisations, blocked NH 13 at Kudligi and Mariyammanahalli, state highway-25 near Hosapete and Ballari-Sindhanur highway.
Farmers of other Kalyana Karnataka districts also registered their protest against the three farm laws by staging highway blockades
The nationwide protest drew a good response in Central Karnataka and Malnad regions with several farmer organisations blocking national and state highways.
DySP turns Good Samaritan
DySP Narasimha Thamradwaja turned a Good Samaritan arranged a vehicle to rush a woman and her ailing child, stranded at H Kalapanahalli, to a hospital in Davangere.
Vehicular movement on Mysuru-Bengaluru, Mysuru-Ooty, Hunsur Road, Mangaluru-Bengaluru highway and other highways were hit following the agitation by the farmers of old Mysore region.
Police took nearly 150 activists into custody in Mysuru City and released them later. The Police forcefully evicted Badagalpura Nagendra, president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), M Umadevi and others as they refused to move from Mysuru-Bengaluru highway at Columbia Asia Hospital junction.
The protest call, however, drew a lukewarm response in coastal districts. Tens of farmers under the banner of KRRS, staged a symbolic protest by blocking NH at Uppinangady for a few minutes.