Release water to canals, revert to original price of milk: Ryots

Rasta roko: Traffic on Mysore-Bangalore road disrupted

Vehicular traffic was disrupted on the Bangalore-Mysore highway for more than two hours as members of Raitha Sangha staged a rasta roko at Gejjalagere in the taluk on Monday demanding release of water in Visveswaraya Canal for standing crops and withdrawal of cut in buying price of milk from farmers.

The activists and farmers from neighbouring villages gathered at Gejjalagere at 11 am, shouted slogans against the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama and Manmul (Mandya Milk Union Limited) and blocked the road.

President of the taluk unit of the sangha Vishwanath said as water did not flow properly to fields from 22nd to 27th mile of the canal paddy and sugarcane crops were drying up.

Massive loss

“If water is not let within a week, all crops would be destroyed, causing loss worth crores for farmers. The district administration should take stock of the situation. It should urge the irrigation consultative committee to convene a meeting and take steps to release water,” he said.

District convenor Kudaragundi Nagaraju said the move of the Manmul to reduce buying price of milk from farmers by Rs 1.75 was unjustified. He urged the state government to intervene to protect the interests of the farmers. Managing director of Manmul K Swamy, who arrived on the spot to pacify the protestors, said there was a downswing in the price of skimmed milk powder due to a change in the Central government’s policy regarding exports and imports.

“Manmul has a stock of 1,300 tonnes of milk powder. So, the union is incurring a loss. To reduce the burden of loss, it has become inevitable to reduce the amount of money paid to farmers,” he said. The protestors did not agree with Swamy and said profit and loss was the headache of the authorities concerned manning the union.
Mismanagement

“Why should we suffer for the wrong policies of the government and mismanagement of the union? The cost of feeds for cattle has gone up. Even water has become scarce. If the union does not solve the issue in one week, we will protest in front of Manmul,” the protestors said.

Even deputy commissioner P C Jaffer, who visited the spot to pacify protestors, had to walk over two kilometre as the path was blocked by stranded vehicles.
He stopped his car near Manmul and walked up to the village.

He assured that a meeting of the irrigation consultative committee would be convened shortly to solve the problem faced by farmers.

Farmers’ leaders Chandru, Govindegowda, Ramalingu, Jayaramaiah, Shankar, Dhaba Kitty, Borappa and Rakesh led the protest demonstration.