As many as 16 hayricks meant for using as fodder for cattle were destroyed in a fire outside Udumgal-Khanapur village near Raichur on Friday noight. Fire-fighting personnel rushed to the spot from Raichur in five vehicles and doused the flames and prevented the fire from spreading to other stacks in the area. The villagers too helped the fire fighting personnel.
There were over 100 haystacks in the same ground outside the village. The destroyed stacks belonged to 12 farmers. Villagers suspected that the fodder stacks (stocks of paddy and jowar straws) might have been set on fire by some miscreants.
The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and Hasiru Sene organisations demanded that the government extend a helping hand to affected farmers. “There is huge scarcity of fodder in the area due to drought. Farmers somehow managed to stock some fodder for their cattle, spending huge sums of money. Now the government should pay compensation and provide fodder to affected farmers,” Lakshman Gowda, district president of KRRS, said.
Deputy Commissioner S. Sasikanth Senthil said he would get a ground report from the Assistant Commissioner and do everything possible to compensate the farmers. “If required, we will provide fodder from the government fodder bank as well,” he said.
