HUBBALLI: A farmer and his family members from Keresur village in Dharwad are paying a very heavy price for no fault of theirs. The farmer, Manjunath R Vaggenavar, is battling for his life at Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS) after his bullock cart was hit by a speeding NWKSRTC bus.
On Tuesday night, Manjunath was returning to his house from his agricultural land in Keresur village when the accident happened. While one of his two oxen was killed, the other one sustained serious injuries and stands little chance of survival.
Some eyewitnesses have blamed the bus driver, who they said, was allegedly making a reel and mixing tobacco when he rammed into the bullock cart. Some said the driver was unable to see the cart which was right in front of him.
The bus was heading from Hubballi to Bagalkot. The driver Ramesh has been arrested.
Rayan Gouda, a villager and a friend of Manjunath, said, “In the death of the ox and hospitalisation of the farmer, his family is now left in the lurch. Manjunath, 40, is a poor farmer who works hard to earn his bread daily. His two-acre land does not give him enough earnings or any money for saving.
“Recently, he purchased a couple of oxen by taking loans which he used for ploughing in other fields too. He had taken nearly Rs 1.5 lakh as a loan from other farmers,” he added.
Shankar Patil, another resident, demanded that the state government or the Zilla Panchayat should come to the aid of the farmer, not merely give short-term compensation. The farmer has two children and he is the sole breadwinner of the family.
A relative of Manjunath said, “There are videos of the driver at the time of the accident. We demand action against him based on the videos.”