Kolhapur: Sugarcane farmers in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, on Wednesday held a protest on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway, disrupting traffic for several hours.
The protest was led by Raju Shetty, the leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana. Shetty demanded that sugar mills immediately announce a additional payment of Rs 100 per quintal for sugarcane from the previous season.
Shetty said that the agitation of farmers led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has been going on for the past one and a half months. He said that the farmers have already made a compromise by reducing their demand from Rs 400 to Rs 100.
Given the protest, the Kolhapur police had stopped traffic on the national highway. Traffic on both sides of the highway was disrupted for about four hours.
To avoid inconvenience to passengers, the traffic route was changed. Traffic from Pune to Karnataka was diverted through the Shiye-Kasaba Bawda-Kavla Naka-Ujali Flyover. Traffic from Karnataka was diverted through Lakshmi Tekdi-Huppari-Ichalkaranji-Hatkanangale-Jaysinghpur-Peth Naka.
