Andhra’s unilateral ban on mangoes against spirit of federalism: Siddaramaiah | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah has urged Chandrababu Naidu, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, to withdraw the ban on transport of Totapuri mangoes from Karnataka into Chittoor district.The decision to write to Naidu came on Wednesday, a day after mango producers and farmers dumped their produce on streets of Srinivaspura in Kolar. In his letter, Siddaramaiah asked Naidu to intervene in the matter and issue directions to Chittoor district authorities to immediately revoke the ban.Siddaramaiah revealed that the AP govt has stationed multidisciplinary enforcement teams comprising personnel from revenue, police, forest, and marketing departments at inter-state checkposts adjoining Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to implement the ban.“This abrupt and unilateral move has caused considerable hardship to mango growers in Karnataka, particularly those in the border regions who cultivate Totapuri mangoes in substantial quantities,” Siddaramaiah said.He said farmers in border districts rely heavily on robust links with Chittoor-based processing and pulp extraction units for marketing their produce. “The current restriction has disrupted this well-established supply chain and threatens significant post-harvest losses, directly impacting livelihoods of thousands of farmers. Moreover, actions of this nature, taken without prior consultation or coordination, run contrary to the spirit of cooperative federalism,” wrote Siddaramaiah.He expressed concern that the AP decision may lead to avoidable tension and retaliatory measures, with stakeholders already expressing discontent that could potentially disrupt the inter-state movement of vegetables and agricultural commodities.Karnataka chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh had also previously written to her AP counterpart K Vijayanand, demanding that the state lift the ban. In her letter, she pointed out that Chittoor’s district collector, in an order on June 7, had banned entry of ‘Totapuri’ mangoes from other states.“There is an apprehension that affected stakeholders in Karnataka may obstruct vegetable inflows from Andhra Pradesh, escalating into unnecessary inter-state tensions, something we must strive to avoid,” the letter states. She urged Vijayanand to “immediately intervene” and get the collector to revoke the order.