Bantwal : The police arrested farmers for blocking the National Highway near BC Road Circle on Wednesday. The members of Raita Sangha and Hasiru Sene had staged a protest urging fulfilment of demands like waiving of loans, uninterrupted water and power supply and others to the farmers.

The protesters alleged that though suicide by farmers was continuing in the State, the government had failed to stop it. In the district, areca is grown on 55,000 hectares and rubber and coconut were cultivated on 18,000 and 25,000 hectares respectively. Also the farmers are dependent on cash crops like pepper, cocoa and cashew.

Today, paddy growers are in peril as the cultivation has come down to 3,000 hectares from 27,000 hectares. Due to erratic rains and wild elephant menace, the farmers incur a loss of more than Rs 1,200 crore per year, protesters added.

They demanded the government to waive farmers’ loans, to exclude agricultural sector from World Trade Organisation, provide permanent drinking water facility, shelve Yettinahole project, construct elephant and peacock parks to check their menace, stop import of rubber, regularisation of forest lands being used by farmers for cultivation and to provide uninterrupted power supply to farmers.

When the protesters blocked the road, the Bantwal City Police arrested the Hasiru Sene members and released them later.