Motorists on Yeswantpur main road had a harrowing time during peak hours on Friday morning as hundreds of farmers and traders staged a protest in front of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard in Yeswantpur against the ‘sudden’ shifting of operations and traders to the Dasanapura yard. Their contention was that the yard barely had any facilities to support trade.
Members of the Bangalore Potato and Onion Traders’ Association said they had learnt through newspaper announcements that the allotees of the new yard and some traders at the Yeswantpur ward had been asked to shift to the Dasanapura yard from Friday morning. They also said farmers who had travelled from Hassan with their produce were asked to take gate passes from Dasanapura before coming to the Yeswantpur ward.
Protesting against this, hundreds of farmers and traders slept on the road outside the APMC yard to prevent vehicle movement and even dumped onions and potatoes on the road while shouting slogans against the government. The protest continued for over two hours leaving motorists stranded.
Hundreds of vehicles queued up on both sides of the busy Yeswantpur Road that connects the State highway. “People who went to the Dasanapura market say there is nothing there. It is 5 km away from the main road and there is not even a police station. Who will go there? Let them put these facilities in place before asking anyone to shift there,” said one of the traders.
The police rushed to the spot to manage traffic and asked APMC officials to redress the grievances of the protesters. The traders and farmers decided to cancel their plan to call for a bandh on Saturday after talks with the government.