Belagavi: A day after the talks of sugarcane growers with the government failed, there was high drama at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday with a young farmer attempting suicide in front of the Soudha.
It brought back chilling memories of the 2013 incident in Belagavi when debt-ridden farmer Vittal Arbhavi had consumed poison and killed himself.
At 4.30 pm on Wednesday, 26-year-old farmer Chandru from Kallupalya in Kunigal taluk climbed a 220-ft mobile phone tower in front of Suvarna Vidhan Soudha when the session was in progress threatening to kill himself if the government did not come to farmers' rescue.
Debt-ridden Chandru was upset over the continuing cane crisis in the state which has turned to worse in the last few months with most farmers owing huge debts, which they could not repay due to crop losses. After attempts by several leaders including Kunigal MLA Nagarajaiah to persuade Chandru not to jump from the tower failed, former CM, H.D. Kumaraswamy rushed to the spot and succeeded in making Chandru climb down.
“For the last three years, the government neglected farmers without fixing prices for several crops, mainly sugarcane. Besides facing crop losses due to natural calamities, farmers suffered financial losses as they did not get a fair price for their yield,'' said Chandru soon after he came down.
Like lakhs of other debt-ridden farmers, Chandru too had availed loans to take up agriculture in his fields near Kunigal. He suffered huge losses with his cane and banana plantations spoilt because of the drought which prevented him from settling loans. A major part of the loans he had taken were used for clearing crop insurance which he availed.
Chandru joined the agitation launched by cane growers and was upset that the talks with sugar minister Mahadev Prasad failed.
