Bagalkot: Lokapur town in Bagalkot district experienced total bandh on Friday following call by the sugarcane growers who have been agitating for a remunerative price and prompt payment for the sugarcane procured by the sugar factories. The Basaveshwara Traders Association had closed shops in support of the farmers’ protest at Basaveshwara Circle in Lokapura. Farmers from the nearby villages participated in the stir. Roads were blocked by the agitating farmers at several places including Sangolli Rayanna Circle, Melligeri, Jamkhandi Taluk’s Chiklaki Cross, Bilagi Taluk’s Kataraki Cross, Gaddanakeri Cross, Kamtagi, Kerur in the district. The protest started at 6am at Kamatagi Cross by blocking the vehicular movement on the Bagalkot-Raichur highway. On the other hand, the Hubballi-Vijayapura national highway was blocked at Gaddankeri Cross causing inconvenience to the commuters. At Hunagund, the members of Akhila Karnataka Bhrastachara Nirmoolana Sangha and Hasiru Sene staged a demonstration on the Raichur-Belgaum state highway demanding that the state government fix the fair price of Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane.
