Farmers protest NIMHANS-type institute on ‘fertile’ land in Varuna 

Farmers staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mysuru on Thursday, opposing the State government’s plan to build a healthcare facility similar to NIMHANS on the “fertile” land in Gudumadanahalli, located in the Varuna assembly constituency on the city’s outskirts.

Farmers staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mysuru on Thursday, opposing the State government’s plan to build a healthcare facility similar to NIMHANS on the “fertile” land in Gudumadanahalli, located in the Varuna assembly constituency on the city’s outskirts.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader Badagalapura Nagendra, who led the protestors, said the 20 acres identified by the State government for setting up the healthcare facility is located in a “fertile” area where farmers cultivate not only coconut and arecanut but also grow two crops of paddy annually.

The farmers of the area receive water from the Varuna canal as well as the Dalvoy lake. He further noted that the farmers procured fodder for about 400 cattle from the same area.

Demanding that the government shift the project to a different site, Mr. Nagendra urged the authorities to prevent the eviction of the estimated 80 families of farmers, who had been cultivating the fertile area and growing crops for the last 60 years.

He said farmers would welcome the project if it were located elsewhere, but opposed the plot at Gudumadanahalli identified by the government.

Farmers’ leader Hoskote Basavaraj, who also participated in the protest, said the farmers had identified several alternative tracts of land suitable for the healthcare project and urged the government to shift it to a different site.