Farmers' protest over sugarcane, ethanol rates disrupts Mumbai Bengaluru NH48
A farmers' protest over sugarcane prices and ethanol rates has disrupted traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway near the Maharashtra-Karnataka border since October 13, causing major traffic jams.
Police are asking travelers to avoid this stretch and have requested Google Maps authorities to mark the affected stretch of National Highway no. 48 as closed, hoping to save people from getting stuck.
Police propose 2 alternate routes
To help everyone keep moving, police have suggested two alternate routes that skip the protest zone at Kognoli toll plaza: one goes through Satara, Rahimatpur, Vita, Tasgaon, Miraj, Gokak, and Belagavi; the other takes you via Satara, Karad, Islampur, Ashta, Miraj, Kagwad, Gokak, and Belagavi.
Traffic teams are out on these roads making sure things run smoothly for both passenger cars and trucks until the highway reopens.
The whole situation is a reminder of ongoing tensions over sugarcane prices, ethanol rates, and other demands, an issue that keeps coming up in protests like this.