Large parts of western and southern Maharashtra remained paralysed on Thursday as agitating farmers and bereaved Shiv Sainiks slowed down traffic by barricading highways and shutting down businesses in and around Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara and Karad.
According to police officials, while it is difficult to ascertain the amount of damage to government and private property, the losses could run into crores.
Several commuters were made to stop at various places on the Pune-Bangalore highway by agitating farmers, who were demanding a hike in the price of sugarcane produce from the existing `2,300 to `3,000 per ton. “The journey from Kolhapur to Pune usually takes three hours, but it took me four-and-a-half hours due to unnecessary road blocks at various places on the highway,” said Sadashiv Jadhav, a businessman from Kolhapur. To make matters worse, news of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thacke-ray’s ill-health resulted in Shiv Sainiks forcing closure of eating joints and hotels on the highway. Vehicles were also stopped at some places and at other places mobs resorted to stone pelting and damaging both public and private transport.
Businesses and establishments also remained closed in most of the cities, including Mumbai, in the early part of the day. “Due to the air of uncertainty regarding Thackeray’s health, people preferred to stay indoors,” said Dilip Sawant, SP Sangli.
However, rampaging farmers and Shiv Sainiks damaged property at most places. “There were sporadic incidents of people damaging property at areas considered to be Shiv Sena strongholds,” said Mr Sawant.