By The Hindu Bureau

Copyright thehindu

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has urged the State government to immediately restore transport services and provide compensation to farmers and villagers affected by heavy rain and floods in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district.

In a statement issued in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, AIKS district president Bhimashankar Madiyal said that bus services to 25 villages, including Nimbarga, Madiyal, Yalasangi, Hatalgi, Nimbal, Dudani, Dongapur, Battarga, Kudaki and Hittal Shirur, have remained suspended for the past four days after the collapse of a bridge on the Nimbarga-Ganagapur-Bommanahalli Main Road due to incessant rainfall.

Students commuting to schools and colleges in Kalaburagi city, farmers transporting vegetables and foodgrains and patients in need of medical care are facing severe hardship, he said.

Mr. Madiyal also drew attention to the breach of a tank in Madiyal village which inundated hundreds of houses and fields causing heavy losses to farmers.

He demanded that the government pay ₹20,000 compensation to each affected family and take up immediate reconstruction of the tank.

He blamed the Minor Irrigation Department for negligence in maintenance that led to the breach.

Raising concern over road infrastructure, he pointed out that the Hittal Shirur-Nimbarga stretch of a new road has remained incomplete for the past two years, with only gravel laid.

This, he said, has made travel unsafe and led to several accidents. He demanded that the work be completed without delay. He also sought upgradation and widening of the Nimbarga-Bommanahalli-Vaijapur Road connecting it to the Dudani National Highway in Maharashtra.

“The State government and elected representatives must act immediately. If these demands are ignored, the AIKS will have no option but to launch an agitation,” Mr. Madiyal warned.