Travellers from Mumbai, Pune, and Satara are advised to avoid Pune-Bengaluru National Highway due to a farmers’ blockade.
“The farmers outfits are demanding to make sugar MSP Rs 50 per kg and ethanol procurement price Rs 70 per litre days before start of annual crushing season. The demands if met will make sugar mills capable to pay farmers Rs 5,000 per ton as per their demand,” said Raju Shetti, president of Maharashtra’s outfit. KOLHAPUR: Travellers from Mumbai, Pune and Satara heading to Karnataka have been advised to avoid travelling on Pune-Bengaluru National Highway (NH48) if possible due to severe disruption caused by a farmers’ blockade near Kognoli on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, Kolhapur Range Special Inspector General of Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma said.
The blockade has been launched by Maharashtra’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Karnataka’s Rayat Sangha after talks with govt failed. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolhapur | Silver Rate in Kolhapur | Bank Holidays in Kolhapur | Public Holidays in Kolhapur Stay updated with the latest Kolhapur news.
Another alternative route, he said, is from Karad through Ashta, Sangli and Miraj before joining the route to Belagavi from there they can go down southwards. The blockade has entered second day, there is no response from the centre. The heavy vehicles such as trucks and containers continues to remain stranded across both sides of Kognoli toll booth. The travellers visiting Mahabaleshwar, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur however need not worry. He suggested travelling from Satara via Rahimatpur, Tasgaon, Miraj and Gokak to Belagavi. The agitation at toll plazas beyond Kognoli has caused major inconvenience to commuters and disrupted traffic on the busy interstate highway corridor. The travellers can reach upto Kagal. For light vehicles the traffic diversion is marked from Lakshmi Tekdi to MIDC to Nipani. However the travellers who want to go further may face inconvenience as the Karnataka outfits are protesting at Hattarki Toll Booth much before Belagavi. Download the TOI App.
Around 1am on Wednesday, Sharma issued a video advisory urging commuters to postpone travel plans or use alternate routes to reach Belagavi.