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Bengaluru, Mar 30: The nationwide lockdown has left the state on the brink of a fresh agrarian crisis.

The lack of transport facilities spells doom for ready-to-harvest grapes worth Rs 500-600 crore in Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts. Unable to find buyers, several farmers have begun dumping their produce into compost pits.

On Sunday, Munishamappa, a farmer in Chikkaballapur, emptied four truckloads of grapes into the pit as buyers didn’t turn up due to the lockdown. “If the grapes wither and fall to the ground, it will affect the soil’s fertility and I will be forced to dispose of them,” he said.

Venkata Krishnappa, Munishamappa’s son, said their 1.5-acre vineyard yielded 25 tonnes of grapes. “Just before the lockdown, 10 tonnes were harvested and delivered to the market. Due to lack of transport, buyers haven’t turned up for the remaining 15 tonnes which we are dumping into the pit.”

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Anjaneya Reddy, a farmer leader, said that in Chikkaballapur alone, they have cultivated grapes on 2,000 acres. “Even if you consider 15 tonnes per acre as yield, there are about 30,000 tonnes ready to be harvested in the district. At a market rate of Rs 50 to Rs 60 per kilogram, the net worth will be Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore. And if you consider the crop in Kolar and Bengaluru Rural, grapes worth Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore are at stake,” he explained.

The ‘Dilkush’ grapes is the most preferred variety of domestic consumption, according to the farmers.

This apart, farmers would have invested about Rs 3 lakh to 4 lakh per acre on fertilisers, pesticide and labour. “With markets being shut and no of the transport facilities available, farmers are forced to dump their produce into pits. It is high time the government intervened and provided us with market options so that farmers can sell at an affordable price of Rs 30 to 40,” Reddy said.

Somu, a farmer in Ganjam village of Srirangapattana, dumped two tonnes of chikku (sapota) citing market shutdown in Mandya. Reddy appealed to the government to emulate the Maharashtra model where the government is helping farmers market fruits through Hopcoms or dairy units as nutrient supplements to people.

Bengaluru, Jul 5: A 50-year-old woman with breathing difficulties died on Saturday after a shortage of beds forced 12 hospitals to refuse admission.

Her husband Babu said the family had approached 12 hospitals in three days, including Victoria Hospital and other private facilities, who all slammed their doors on them, citing a shortage of beds. The woman died on Saturday, a few minutes into her admission at KC General Hospital.

Second death 

A 35-year-old man, Manjunath, also died on Saturday after enduring fever for three days and being refused admission at several hospitals due to a shortage of beds.

As his condition worsened, his wife admitted him to a private hospital on Saturday after hours of ordeal. But the man died less than 15 minutes after getting admitted. Hospital authorities took swab samples from the deceased and said the body would be handed over after the test results.

BBMP personnel also failed to shift the body of a Covid-19 patient in Kalasipalya almost a day after the death.

Despite civic workers disinfecting the place, the neighbours were in a state of panic after the body was kept at home.

Mangaluru, May 8: Migrant workers, stranded in Karnataka due to lockdown, staged a protest on Friday at the Central Railway Station here, demanding to be sent back to their respective native places.

The workers demanded the state government to take measures and send them back to their homes.

Maintaining social distancing and covering their faces with masks, the workers were holding placards which read -- "We want to go home Jharkhand, We want justice and we want to go home."

They appealed to the state government to arrange trains and buses to ferry them to their native places and threatened to walk home if denied transport.

Several protests have erupted in different parts of the country, such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, as stranded labourers took to the roads demanding to be sent back home.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on May 1 had issued an order to extend the ongoing lockdown by two more weeks from May 4 with some relaxations.