The Hindu : National : Delay in fertilizer supply triggers protests

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Saturday, Jul 18, 2009
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Delay in fertilizer supply triggers protests

Staff Correspondent

HUBLI: Protests against fertilizer scarcity resumed in Haveri district on Friday as farmers waiting to get their supply did not receive it.

Protests were reported from Haveri and Byadgi. Farmers resorted to a snap bandh in Byadgi town.

The district received a consignment of 800 tonnes of urea on Thursday, and officials of the Agriculture Department had said that the fertilizer would be supplied evenly to all taluks.

Several farmers had lined up at a Raitha Samparka Kendra in Byadgi on Friday to get urea. However, much to their displeasure, the consignment did not arrive in Byadgi. The farmers were told by the authorities that urea would be supplied to them after two days.

Angered by this, they called for a bandh. Immediately, they went in groups to various places in the town and asked the owners of shops and other business establishments to down shutters. Within an hour, all business activities in the town came to a standstill and there was tense atmosphere for some time.

The farmers raised slogans against the Government for making “false” promises without understanding the gravity of the situation.

They dispersed only after the authorities explained the reason for the delay in arrival of fresh consignment of urea.

In Haveri, farmers who had come to purchase urea at the Raitha Samparka Kendra resorted to “rasta roko” for almost an hour after they found that there was no adequate stock of the fertilizer. The situation was tense for some time as the farmers were not convinced by the clarification given by officials of the department.

Later, Joint Director of Agriculture V.M. Bhairappa came to the venue with a release issued by the Deputy Commissioner and read it out to the farmers. The release said that arrival of urea consignment by train from Mangalore via Bangalore had been delayed owing to landslips on the railway line near Sakleshpur, . The fertilizer was now being sent to Haveri via Goa.

Later, the farmers withdrew their protest.

Meanwhile, farmers staged “rasta roko” for some time at Gundenahalli near Motebennur seeking early supply of urea. According to sources in the department, 4,000 tonnes of urea is likely to reach Haveri in two days.

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