<p>The high level canal between Kamalapur and Hallikeri breached early morning inundating over hundreds of acres in Hallikeri, Kamalapur, Gourammanagundu, Seetarama tanda, HPC Gundlavaddigeri, Venkatpur tanda and surrounding villages. Standing crops of sugar cane, plantain, maize, coton and other crops worth lakhs of rupees were washed away by the gushing waters. The crops were ready for harvest. The road to Papinayakanahalli was also damaged. <br /><br />Alert farmers<br /><br />The Hallikeri tank near the Hampi Kannada Univesity filled to the brim and water reached the varsity premises too. Alert farmers averted a major havoc by breaking open the sluice to release the excess water. Though their fields were flooded, the tank didn’t breach. <br />The farmers said they had alerted the Tungabhadra Board officials on the cracks developed in the canal. <br /><br />They alleged that the officers were not only apathetic but also careless in releasing the excess water at night. They complained that repair work whenever carried out, was of poor quality.<br /><br />Protest staged<br /><br />The irate farmers held captive Superintendent Engineer Jayakumar Reddy, Assistant Executive Engineer Veereshappa and Junior Engineer Polereddy. <br /><br />They said they will not allow the officials to take up any repair work unless the senior officials and ministers visited the spot and compensated them for the crop loss. Staging a sit-in protest the farmers raised slogans against the ‘pro-Andhra’ actions of the officials.<br /><br />Traffic affected<br /><br />Vehicular movement was affected as the Venkatapur camp was marooned and Kampli road in Hospet was under water. Some of the bridges have also collapsed. District In-charge minister G Janardhana Reddy, Lok Sabha member J Shanta and Vijayanagar legislator Anand Singh accompanied by local leaders and officials visited the spot.</p>
<p>The high level canal between Kamalapur and Hallikeri breached early morning inundating over hundreds of acres in Hallikeri, Kamalapur, Gourammanagundu, Seetarama tanda, HPC Gundlavaddigeri, Venkatpur tanda and surrounding villages. Standing crops of sugar cane, plantain, maize, coton and other crops worth lakhs of rupees were washed away by the gushing waters. The crops were ready for harvest. The road to Papinayakanahalli was also damaged. <br /><br />Alert farmers<br /><br />The Hallikeri tank near the Hampi Kannada Univesity filled to the brim and water reached the varsity premises too. Alert farmers averted a major havoc by breaking open the sluice to release the excess water. Though their fields were flooded, the tank didn’t breach. <br />The farmers said they had alerted the Tungabhadra Board officials on the cracks developed in the canal. <br /><br />They alleged that the officers were not only apathetic but also careless in releasing the excess water at night. They complained that repair work whenever carried out, was of poor quality.<br /><br />Protest staged<br /><br />The irate farmers held captive Superintendent Engineer Jayakumar Reddy, Assistant Executive Engineer Veereshappa and Junior Engineer Polereddy. <br /><br />They said they will not allow the officials to take up any repair work unless the senior officials and ministers visited the spot and compensated them for the crop loss. Staging a sit-in protest the farmers raised slogans against the ‘pro-Andhra’ actions of the officials.<br /><br />Traffic affected<br /><br />Vehicular movement was affected as the Venkatapur camp was marooned and Kampli road in Hospet was under water. Some of the bridges have also collapsed. District In-charge minister G Janardhana Reddy, Lok Sabha member J Shanta and Vijayanagar legislator Anand Singh accompanied by local leaders and officials visited the spot.</p>
