Striving to prevent urea shortage : Official
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 17 2022:
The Government has started providing urea for cultivating kharif crops to farmers even as the deadline to procure all the required fertilizers by June could not be actualised.
Reportedly, the Central Government allocated 22,000 MT of urea to the State and the same has to be lifted in three months (April to June ) .
The delay, as per the source in the Agriculture Department, was caused by the snapping of Irang Bridge along National Highway-37 (Imphal-Jiribam road) and the impairment of a railway track at Haflong, Assam due to the heavy rainfall that lashed the Northeastern region of India recently.
The Irang Bridge was snapped on May 3 last.
Speaking to The Sangai Express, Assistant Fertilizer Officer of the Agriculture Department N Shantakumar said that the Department was to lift the 22,000 MT of urea allocated to the State every month.
However, the highways in Manipur are not up to the mark and as such the department planned to lift all the allocated urea in three months (April to June ) and store it at the godown of the Agriculture Department, he added.
The plan of action didn't transpire due to the natural calamity, he informed and said that the snapping of the Irang Bridge was a big disappointment to them.
N Shantakumar said that the department has consulted the matter with the Minister and Commissioner concerned to take up necessary actions so that there is no shortage of urea in the State.
He claimed that none of the transporters are willing to bring in the urea through Imphal-Dimapur road (NH-2) despite increasing the transportation charge.
Some of the transporters agreed to fetch the fertilizer through Khatkhati, the officer said and added that the department, however, could not bring in a large amount of urea due to the landslide at Nagaland near Mao.
He informed that no amount of fertilizer was lifted in May, he said and added that the quantity of urea lifted in April was lesser than expected due to the repairing of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited plants.
Saying that the department has provided 500 bags of urea each to Assembly Constituencies in consultation with the local MLAs, he added that snapping of Irang Bridge and the frequent occurrence of landslides have distressed the farmers as farm activity is a time bound work.
He also said that there is not much stock of urea left at the Agriculture Department and urged all farmers to not hoard fertilizers unnecessarily.