Having staged a sit-in for over a fortnight in front of the office of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL), farmers of the Malaprabha command area have intensified their agitation over the Mahadayi project and took out a protest march along with bullock carts in Dharwad on Wednesday.
Farmers from Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri took out the protest rally under the aegis of Raita Sena Karnataka from Kadapa Maidan and, after covering the thoroughfares of the city, staged a demonstration by parking their bullock carts in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad.
The protesting farmers said that the agitation for Mahadayi and Kalasa Banduri Nala Project has been the longest agitation post-Independence. During the more than four-decade-long agitation, the farmers have faced police excesses, but they continued the agitation demanding linking of the Mahadayi with the Malaprabha to accelerate irrigation projects in North Karnataka, they said.
