Belagavi: The Khanapur bandh and rasta roko call given by various local organizations demanding the government to lift the ban on sand extraction and also proper compensation to farmers who lost land to the road widening works of the Belagavi- Panjim National Highway , received good response on Monday.Most commercial establishments including petrol bunks were shut while the bandh also affected the weekly market in the town. A holiday was also announced for schools and colleges following the demise of Union fertilizer and chemicals minister H N Ananth Kumar.Hundreds of people associated with sand extraction, transportation, vendors, owners of tippers and tractors, construction workers and farmers participated in a huge procession that began at Basaveshwar Chowk in Jamboti Cross. They proceeded to Shivsmarak Chowk by passing through the Belagavi-Panjim National Highway and blocked the road for over an hour. Former MLA Digambar Patil warned of intensifying the agitation if the government did not heed to their demands. He said the ban on sand extraction and transport has broken the financial backbone of Khanapur taluk making hundreds of people unemployed.The agitation was withdrawn only after deputy commissioner S B Bommanhalli spoke with the protesters over phone and called them for a discussion in Belagavi on Tuesday.

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