Farmers block NH 48 demanding ₹5,500 sugarcane price

HAVERI Tensions reached a boiling point across northern Karnataka as furious sugarcane growers escalated their statewide agitation, launching a massive blockade at the Bankapur toll gate along National Highway 48 in Shiggaon taluk, Haveri district. The high-stakes demonstration brought vehicular traffic on the vital economic highway to a complete standstill, stranding hundreds of motorists and commercial transport vehicles. Protesting farmers gathered in large numbers to voice their intense outrage against the Central Government, demanding that the state-mandated price for sugarcane be fixed immediately at ₹5,500 per tonne. Demonstrators made their anger visible by staging a traditional Barkolu (whip) protest, striking the asphalt with whips, and publicly burning an effigy of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi. Speaking at the protest site, agricultural leaders emphasized that soaring cultivation expenses, skyrocketing fertilizer costs, and unpredictable weather patterns have pushed rural families to the brink of financial ruin. They warned that without guaranteed fair pricing, the entire agricultural livelihood of sugarcane-dependent communities faces absolute destruction. Protesters explicitly vowed to maintain their blockade on National Highway 48, declaring that they will refuse to call off the agitation until federal and state authorities issue a formal, binding commitment to meet their core demands. The sudden escalation follows the breakdown of high-level talks in New Delhi, where negotiations between farmer representatives and Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pralhad Joshi failed to yield an immediate pricing agreement. While central authorities recently proposed establishing a specialized joint committee to investigate weighing accuracy and sugar recovery rates, frustrated growers rejected prolonged reviews, demanding immediate financial relief instead. In response to the mounting unrest, local law enforcement mobilized heavily across the district. A tense atmosphere enveloped the toll plaza as over a thousand police personnel—operating under the direct supervision of Haveri Superintendent of Police Yashodha Vantagodi—were deployed to maintain public order, manage crowd control, and divert stranded commuters onto alternative regional pathways. As agricultural protests continue to spread across multiple districts, pressure mounts on political leaders to negotiate an urgent settlement.