Members of the CPI(M) on Wednesday urged the State government to fix the procurement price for sugarcane at Rs. 3,000 a tonne for the current crushing season. As many as 100 members of the party staged a demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here.
The State was also supposed to fix the sugarcane procurement price in June, but has yet to do so, they said. Shouting slogans against the State government for not initiating measures to fix the cane procurement price for the present crushing season, agitators also requested the authorities concerned to discharge water into the Cauvery-dependent canals in the district.
Full to the brim
The Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir is full to the brim, but farmers in the lower reaches of several canals in the district have not been getting proper water supply to their fields, Puttamadu, CPI(M) district secretary, told The Hindu .
According to him, the Mandya district administration has “completely failed” to safeguard farmers in the lower reaches of the KRS-dependent canals in the district.
The district administration should establish vigilance squads to prevent farmers in the upper reaches of canals from drawing excess water, “so that the farmers in the tail-end areas can save their crops,” CPI (M) leader C. Kumari said.
Later, agitators submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner B.N. Krishnaiah, who promised to take up the issue with the government.
