Non-payment of arrears : Phagwara admn asks sugar mill to vacate properties

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, August 21

Taking a serious note of non-payment to sugarcane growers by Wahid-Sandhar Sugar Mills, the local administration today issued a notice to the mill to vacate the properties attached by the office of SDM, Phagwara.

Talking to The Tribune here today, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Jai Inder Singh said there was an outstanding arrear of sugarcane growers to the tune of Rs 40 crore approximately. He said the administration had already served repeated notices to the owners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhar, Jarnail Singh Wahid and Balbir Kaur, wife of Sukhbir Singh, for vacating properties attached for failure to make payments to farmers.

The notice stipulated that the auction process of these properties was being initiated shortly, so the said properties measuring 10 kanal 12 marlas and 7 kanal 6 marlas, including a kothi, should be vacated at the earliest. The SDM said that the administration was committed to ensuring the payment to farmers and the concerned should vacate these properties so that the next procedure for payments could be adopted. He said that the mill would be responsible for the loss caused in view of non-vacating of the properties.