Road blocks mark bandh in several dists in North Karnataka

Public transport and autorickshaws operate like on any other day

Farmers staging a road block in Dharwad on Monday in response to the Bharat Bandh call.

The Bharat Bandh call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, supported by various organisations and political parties, evoked lukewarm response in the districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada with the agitation being confined to demonstrations and road blocks for some time.

In all these districts, public transport buses and autorickshaws operated like on any other day but with decreased intensity and away from protest sites. Government and private offices, business and commercial establishments functioned normally and shopkeepers carried out their businesses as usual.

Shops and commercial establishments around the venues of demonstrations and road blocks were shut down for some time till the protestors dispersed before they reopened.

The Jubilee Circle in Dharwad, Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi, Hosamani Siddappa Circle in Haveri, Mahatma Gandhi Circle in Gadag became the venues of demonstrations and consequently, the roads leading to these junctions were closed for some time. The police diverted traffic on these roads via alternative routes till the completion of the demonstrations. The central business districts in these cities witnessed normal business. However, people avoided travelling on a bandh day because of which the public transport buses had fewer number of passengers.

In Dharwad, scores of farmers staged demonstration under the aegis of Samyukta Horata Karnataka. They also took out a protest march from Jubilee Circle to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad.

Leading the protest, activist S.R. Hiremath said that the Centre had introduced the farm laws at the behest of corporate companies and these laws are detrimental to the progress of the farm sector in the country. The Centre had least concern for the plight of farmers and the commoners who suffered a lot because of the pandemic, he said.

Token road blockades were also staged on some of the national highways passing through these districts and on the Hubballi-Dharwad Bypass Road. Barring instances of heated arguments between protestors and police at a few places, no untoward incidents were reported.