Police Detain Over 50 Farmers Blocking Bidadi‑Harohalli Road Over Township Project

Over 50 people, including several women farmers, were detained after they blocked the Bidadi‑Harohalli road near Bairamangala Circle in Bengaluru South on Friday. The protest was against the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township, also called the Bidadi township project. More than 100 farmers gathered, held a hunger strike and parked tractors, bullock carts and cows on the road. They also set up a Ganesha pandal in the middle of the carriageway. Police asked the crowd to clear the road but the protest continued. Officers, including women staff, arrived with a police bus, yet some protesters lay down and refused to move. Tensions rose when farmers willing to part with their lands arrived and argued with the blockading group. The senior officer said members of both groups were detained and that a decision on filing an FIR is pending. The protesters said the government‑appointed committee was moving too slowly and that its mandate forced them to register with RTC and Aadhaar cards before voicing concerns. The committee, led by former judge Guhanathan Narendar, will hear objections on September 30 and October 1. Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha’s state general secretary Yashavantha T. warned many farmers lack RTCs and may miss the hearing. Farmers from Devanahalli and Doddaballapur submitted a memorandum opposing a KIADB plan to acquire about 1,200 acres across five villages for General Industrial Area Phase‑3. Resident Nagaraj Govindappa said the land lies in the Arkavati basin and cannot be taken, and the Deputy Commissioner said the issue will be reviewed.