Three trains carrying urea for Malwa belt stuck in other states

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 1

Farmers in the state may face a shortage of fertilisers in the coming days with the movement of goods trains to and from the state suspended.

Presently there is a shortage of 10 lakh tonne urea and there is a requirement of four lakh tonne Diammonium phosphate (DAP) as well. The three goods trains laden with fertilisers for the Malwa region are stuck in other states.

After the harvest of paddy, the sowing of wheat would soon begin in the region, Agriculture Department officials have advised farmers to begin sowing from November 1 to 15. Farmers would therefore require DAP as well urea. Sensing a shortage of fertilisers, farmers in the region have started purchasing it from cooperative societies and traders in large quantities.

Sources say the three goods trains stuck in other states were to reach and deliver the fertilisers at the Rampura railway station in Bathinda, Mansa and Kotkapura in Faridkot district. However, it is not yet clear when these trains would reach the destination. Agriculture department officials claim that there’s sufficient stock of fertilisers with which farmers would be able to start the sowing of wheat in the region.

They also claim wheat is likely to be sown on 15 lakh hectares in the state, requiring 5.50 lakh tonne DAP and 15 lakh tonne urea. Agriculture expert say if fertilisers do not reach within a week, farmers would face the problem.

BKU (Ekta Urgahan), secretary, Shingara Singh Mann, says: “The Central Government has deliberately stopped the movement of trains carrying fertilisers and coal to the state. It is an attempt to suppress our protest. But we won’t succumb to any pressure.”