Farmers dump wheat on highway in Rohtak village

Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, April 30

More than one-km stretch of the Rohtak-Hisar highway passing through Madina village in the district has been blocked on the one side for traffic for the past several days as thousands of quintals of wheat is lying there.

Insufficient space at the grain market in the village is forcing farmers to unload their produce on the highway, posing inconvenience and a threat of mishaps to commuters.

Farmers and commission agents are compelled to take care of the produce round the clock to protect it from stray cattle. “We have no other option but to dump wheat on the road as the grain market is already choked. The work to lift the procured wheat is in progress at a snail’s pace,” said Navneet, a farmer, while unloading 24 quintals of wheat from his tractor-trolley.

Dharambir, another farmer, said every season, farmers were forced to dump their wheat either on the highway or fields along the highway for the past several years. The highway blockade is also posing a serious threat to the lives of road users, especially during night. Villagers have raised the issue several times but to no avail,” he added.

Deepak Dangi, commission agent, said they had to be vigilant 24 hours to keep stray cattle away from their produce. “Commission agents are responsible for any loss to the procured wheat until it is lifted. Hence, we have to take care of wheat round the clock,” he said, adding 30,000 quintals of wheat is dumped on the highway.

Vinod Arya from Hafed said, “The grain market is short on space. Around 1.25 lakh quintals of wheat are procured from the Madina mandi every season.”