Farmers' protest hits traffic on Bengaluru- Mysuru highway

Traffic on Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway near Ramanagaram came to a standstill for several hours on Monday, following a protest by thousands of farmers over flaws in e-auction of sericulture reels. 

While lakhs of commuters were stranded on the road, vehicles were lined up in a long queue for several kilometres. Women, children and senior citizens were put into trouble as they had to walk for long distances. The Sericulture Department had asked farmers to participate in the e-auction using a mobile app. A large number of farmers registered for the e-auctioning to buy 200 reels, but only around 500 farmers received user ID and passwords. The Wi-Fi facility was enabled around 12 noon, but the network was unstable, leading farmers to resort to the protest.