Udupi district unit of Bharatiya Kissan Sangh staged a huge non political rally from Tiger Circle to DC Office demanding solution to wild animals menace and also other problems confronted by the farmers here on Wednesday.
Forwarding the memorandum to Chief Minister through Deputy Commissioner Dr M T Reju, Bharatiya Kissan Sangh Udupi District General Secretary Satyanarayana Udupa cautioned that Bharatiya Kissan Sangh would intensify the agitation if government fails to find ways within 100 days to secure farmers against the wild animals’ threat, especially monkeys, which have made the farmers’ life hell.
More than three-fourth of the agricultural yields are destroyed by the monkeys and farmers should bare the brunt of loss, he added.
Stating that wild animals’ attacking agricultural growth is the major problem of coastal districts, Udupa said the problem has deepened in such a way that there might be no major surprise if the problem leads to the destruction of farmer community.
He said that a group of farmers had visited Himachal Pradesh to study the monkey garden set up there and had submitted a report to the government. However, the government has not shown any response to the report. Added to that, the forest department has closed the file carrying the complaint about the wild animals attacks.
According to forest department officials, there is no such problem existing in this part of area, he added and demanded that the Sangh has put forward 16 demands before the government, sterilisation of the monkeys being the most important one.
If sterilisation of the monkeys takes longer time, then the government should take measures to shift all the monkeys to the Kaveri and Bandipur forests, where the population of monkeys is curtailed naturally by other wild animals, he said.
He said among other demands, reviving the Varahi project and Brahmavar sugar factory is the need of hour to sustain the life of farmers in the district.
He also said that the government should support farmers to set up fencing similar to that elephant protection trench adjacent to forest borders, he added.
State President Yellanturu Ranganath questioned on how elected representatives take decisions concerning farmers problems in Parliament and state assembly without consulting farmers.
“Who are these people to decide on behalf of farmers? Farmers work without taking loss and profit into consideration. Stating that the farmers do not need any sort of subsidies, he said, “instead, we need justifiable price valued for our growths.” It should be tenants’ market and not buyers market. Farmers should decide the price for their growths, he added.
Zilla Panchayat President Katpadi Shankar Poojary and Karkala MLA Gopal Bhandari extended their support to the farmers and addressed the gathering on the occasion.
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