Sacks of Fertiliser Looted, Roads Blocked: Tension mounts in Kurigram over manure
Farmers protest on the road in Bhurungamari, demanding the sale of fertilizer in the open market. Photo: Agamir Somoy.
Tension prevailed throughout the day today (Monday) in two upazilas of Kurigram over the distribution of fertilizer among farmers. In the morning, a warehouse in Roumari was broken into and several sacks of fertilizer were looted. Around the same time, commotion also occurred at another warehouse.
A similar incident of fertilizer looting in the district's Bhurungamari upazila had made headlines a few days ago. Today, around noon, fears of another fertilizer crisis spread in this upazila. Local farmers staged protests by blocking roads. They also confined an agriculture officer.
The incident occurred around 11:00 AM on Monday at the "M/s Afi Fertilizer Store" in the Pateshwari Bridge area of Sonahat Union.
This is the warehouse of BADC fertilizer dealer Amjad Hossain. Police and local administration said that fertilizer distribution began there around 11:00 AM. A large number of farmers gathered outside the warehouse.
At one point, several farmers took to the streets demanding that fertilizer be sold in the open market. Their complaint was that they have to wait for hours for fertilizer, spending entire days in queues. This costs them a loss of 700 takas in daily earnings.
At this time, they surrounded Agriculture Officer Abdul Jabbar and demanded open-market fertilizer sales.
The agriculture officer said, "Fertilizer was supposed to be distributed today among farmers from four wards of Sonahat Union. However, a huge number of farmers from various wards of the union showed up there. They became agitated, surrounded me, and blocked the road."
Upon receiving the news, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Amrit Dev Nath, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Aminul Haque Tareque, Bhurungamari Police Station OC Azim Uddin, Upazila BNP Convener Kazi Alauddin Mandal, and Member Secretary Shahidul Islam Akond rushed to the spot.
They visited the spot and promised to sell fertilizer in the open market, after which the farmers moved away from the road. Later, 335 sacks of DAP, 95 sacks of TSP, and 157 sacks of MOP fertilizer were distributed among them, said OC Azim.
UNO Amrit Dev Nath stated that the situation is now calm. A meeting of the Upazila Fertilizer and Seed Monitoring Committee has been called for Monday afternoon to discuss the issue of open-market fertilizer sales. Further steps will be taken according to the committee's decision.
Earlier in the morning, a fertilizer looting incident occurred at the warehouse of "M/s Mita Hasan Enterprise" in Bandaber Union of Roumari.
The farmers reported that fertilizer was supposed to be distributed among them at 9:00 AM. However, even after arriving at the scheduled time, the dealer was not found at the premises. After waiting for a long time, they eventually broke open the gate and took away sacks of fertilizer.
At the same time, farmers also attempted to break the gate and take fertilizer from the sales center of "M/s Anupam Traders" in Roumari Bazar. Police and BGB personnel were deployed there.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Mahbubul Hasan said, "Due to a large number of farmers coming to collect fertilizer at the same time during the Aman season, the warehouses are facing pressure. This is why they have to wait for long periods. I urge them not to panic and to collect fertilizer following the proper rules."
Upazila Agriculture Officer Mahbubul Alam said, "There is no fertilizer crisis in Roumari. There is an adequate stock of fertilizer. Fertilizer is being distributed according to the rules and in line with the farmers' demand."
Roumari Police Station OC Md. Kausar Ali believes such incidents occur because a large number of farmers do not follow the proper procedures for collecting fertilizer. He said although over a hundred sacks were looted in the morning incident, police later brought the situation under control and arranged for the proper distribution of fertilizer.
A similar incident occurred on August 23 in the Dhaldanga Bazar area of Shilkhuri Union, Bhurungamari. There, farmers, complaining about not receiving fertilizer as per demand, broke into the warehouse of "M/s Shah Amanat Enterprise" and looted 202 sacks of urea. Later, however, most of the sacks were recovered through the administration's efforts.
