Punjab farmers blame administration as grains rot due to poor storage

CHANDIGARH - Farmers in Punjab have blamed the administration for the rotting of thousands of tonnes of paddy grains, which was left in the open in Khanna Mandi market, due to lack of storage facilities.

The government had assured them that their grains would be lifted from where it was stockpiled in the open, and would be sold to agencies within 24 hours.

However, Khanna Mandi officials claimed that the problem has been resolved and they have increased the number of trucks for lifting the grains.

“There was problem in lifting of grains, which we have resolved. The farmers did not have an agreement with the rice millers, which now have been made. Now the lifting work is going on very smoothly, said Rajpal Singh, the District Mandi officer.

The farmers had suffered due to the floods that had destroyed over a million acres of paddy crop, and are now furious that their remaining harvest is slowly rotting due to lack of storage facilities.

“It has been lying there for three-four days. We have brought crop, grown on seven acres of land and have to still bring crops grown on three acres of land. For that, we do not know for how long we have to wait,” said Balwinder Singh, a farmer.

The agencies that buy grains from the farmers said that the grain has become damp and its quality has degraded. By Sunil Sharma (ANI)