Denied payment, irate apple growers block Narkanda road

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 16

Hundreds of apple growers, led by Theog legislator Rakesh Singha under the banner of the Himachal Kisan Sabha (HKS), today staged a four-hour chakka jam at Narkanda against arhtiyas and the failure of the Agriculture Department and the APMC to ensure payments worth Rs 50 crore to farmers.

The growers gathered at 11.30 am and blocked the Shimla-Narkanda-Rampur-Kinnaur road till 3.30 pm, bringing traffic to a standstill. They raised slogans against the APMC and the department. The chakka jam was lifted when Theog Tehsildar intervened and assured them that they would send their demand to the government.

The growers’ anger was fuelled when three arhtiyas suddenly disappeared from Narkanda, alleged the farmers. These arhtiyas had bought fruit worth Rs 10 crore from small farmers, they said.

But when the farmers sought payments after a month, they shut their shops and disappeared. Their phones are also switched off, Singha said.

They also owed payments to many farmers and had procured licence in the name of someone from the office of the Deputy Director, Agriculture.

These are not the isolated cases of pending payments. “More than 50 per cent of small and marginal farmers have not received payments from arhtiyas based in Narkanda, Rohru, Solan, Dhalli, Parala, Sainj, Parwanoo and Chandigarh,” the farmers said.

Singha said the arhtiyas, who are still in market yards, had not released payments even after three months. The farmers said they were in distress. They had to pay for labour, empty cartons, trays and shop owners for pesticides and fertilisers. Arhtiyas had deducted Rs 10 to Rs 50 per carton as labour charges.