Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

Kodela stages sit-in on fertilizer problem

— Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Complex issue: Telugu Desam Party leader Kodela Siva Prasada Rao staging a dharna at Narsaraopet in Guntur district on Friday.

GUNTUR: The availability of complex fertilizers is not enough in Guntur district and its repercussions are seen in the form of agitations by several political parties and farmers in Narsaraopet on Friday.

As per the estimates of the agriculture officials, they had met 80 per cent of the farmers’ needs for complex fertilizers in the district, while there were enough stocks of urea and DAP. Contrary to it, the Telugu Desam and the Communist parties claim that there was a wide gap between demand and supply.

On Friday a group of farmers raided the godown of a private fertilizer dealer and took away some bags of complex fertilizers before the police could intervene and restore normalcy. This was followed by Telugu Desam Party leader and former minister Kodela Siva Prasada Rao and party district president Prattipati Pulla Rao sitting on a dharna at two different places in the town to block the traffic and bring to the notice of the district administration the shortage of fertilizers in the Narsaraopet revenue division.

The TDP, which has been conducting peaceful agitation at the town centre for the past 10 days, proposes to continue it till all farmers were met with their demand. Criticising the State government for its inability to survey the need and ensure proper quantum of fertilizer supply, he said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy did not have moral right to call himself a pro-farmer leader.

Agriculture Joint Director A. Rajaiah told The Hindu that Opposition parties were deliberately creating trouble while situation was fine and farmers were getting adequate stocks of fertilizers. “We are getting one rake of complex fertilizers everyday (about 250 mt) and transporting them from the railway yards to the villages where they were in demand,” Mr. Rajaiah said.

At Vinukonda the farmers caught hold of Bollapalli Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society president and another office-bearer for allegedly making false bills for the 468 tonnes of fertilizers it had received for distribution. According to the society books found in Vinukonda, only 27 tonnes of stock was left and none of the farmers had got enough quantum. The farmers were supported by TDP, CPI (M) and Praja Rajyam party leaders and sat in a dharna.

Society president Bommireddy Venkateswarlu and Agriculture Development Assistant Rajendra Prasad were held hostage for six hours.

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