The Hindu : Karnataka News : Davangere farmers go on the rampage

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Saturday, Jul 18, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Davangere farmers go on the rampage

H.S. Narasimha Kumar

A PRIZE CATCH: Farmers forcibly taking away fertilizer bags from a truck in Davangere on Friday.

DAVANGERE: Perceived scarcity of fertilizer in Davangere provoked farmers to throw stones at fertilizer shops and police jeeps on Friday. The protesters even tried to set fire to Kadamba police vehicle.

Six persons — three farmers and three policemen — were injured in the incident. The police caned the protesters and burst teargas shells. Heavy rains in the afternoon came as a blessing in disguise for the district administration which was groping in the dark to bring the situation under control.

Repeated appeals by Deputy Commissioner K. Amaranarayan and Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil notwithstanding, farmers continued their protest at Gandhi Circle and on the railway line. But rain disrupted their protest.

Truck looted

Farmers stopped a truck carrying fertilizer and took away the fertilizer bags. By the time the police could reach the spot, about 70 per cent of the fertilizer had been looted. Farmers squatted on the railway track for over two hours and stopped a Bangalore-Hubli train and a few other goods trains.

Trouble began when the fertilizer dealers distributed allotment chits to farmers and made them wait. The fertilizer dealers told farmers that they had to wait for a few hours to get their quota. However, farmers unsure about the availability of fertilizer, threw stones at a fertilizer shop. Later, they smashed the police outpost and overturned the Kadamba vehicle and tried to torch it when the Superintendent of Police reached the spot.

The Joint Director of Agriculture and a few of his colleagues had to move around in the police van as there was a threat of farmers attacking him and other officers.

The Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police had repeatedly appealed to farmers to give up their agitation. Farmers said that a truck load of fertilizer was being sent to each gram panchayat. It was inadequate even to meet the demand of those who owned four acres of land. Since the monsoon had set in, farmers needed the fertilizer now to take up agricultural operations.

The protesters said supply of any amount of fertilizer after a week would be useless. They said fertilizer was being sent to Bellary, Kotturu and other places where there was deficient rainfall. Quota earmarked for such places should be given to Davangere, they said. The farmers said they were prepared to buy the fertilizer. They alleged that the societies to which fertilizer was being supplied and from where fertilizer should be given to farmers, had sold the same in black market.

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