Farmers damage seven vehicles in Satara

PUNE: Agitating farmers of the Raghunath Patil faction of the Shetkari Sanghatna damaged at least seven vehicles by pelting stones on them and deflating the tyres in Satara district on Sunday. The farmers are demanding Rs 3,300 per tonne of sugarcane from sugar factories and lifting of ban on export of sugar, turmeric and onion.
The farmers have threatened to gherao the house of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Karad if their demands are not considered.
Meanwhile, the police have tightened security on the Pune-Satara-Kolhapur highway in the wake of the agitation.
The first vehicle to be attacked was a tanker heading to Belgaum carrying milk at 4 am on Sunday near the Bombay restaurant chowk. Similar damages to vehicles were reported from six other places. These included damages to vehicles carrying marigold flowers to Pune city.
Another tanker, which was carrying milk of a dairy formed by MP Raju Shetty, was attacked on the Pune-Kolhapur highway. Incidentally, Shetty was earlier associated with the Shetkari Sanghatna.
He later separated to start his organisation - the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna. Shetty himself had held a farmers agitation in Pune, last month, to demand higher prices for sugarcane.
In a recent farmers' gathering regarding sugarcane pricing, Raghunath Patil had appealed the government to take proactive steps to address the growing anger of farmers. The various factions of farmers' organisations have been protesting in various ways to pressurize the government over lifting of the export ban on sugar. Though there is excess sugar stock in the country, the government is not keen on exporting it, resulting into lowering of domestic prices.
The sugar factories have also expressed their reluctance to offer higher returns, claiming low demand due to excess stock. Patil had attended a meeting with Chavan last month to find an amicable solution. The faction started its protests after there was no response from the government.
Police officials are trying to contact various leaders of the Shetkari Sanghatna to avoid any further violent protests.