No DAP supply, desperate farmers loot 100 bags outside Mahendragarh shop

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, October 20

Acute shortage of DAP (diammonium phosphate) led to an ugly incident on Wednesday when farmers forcibly took away 100 bags from the shop of a private dealer at Ateli grain market here.

The incident took place when farmers gathered outside a sale counter of HAFED, but it was shut due to holiday. Enraged, some of them started lifting fertiliser bags lying outside a shop nearby.

Delay in sowing due to Fertiliser crunch

• DAP is the preferred fertiliser for mustard and wheat crops
• Mahendragarh, Rewari, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri districts are facing acute shortage
• Farmers are forced to wait outside sale counters for hours
• Ajay Kumar, DC, says the matter will be resolved soon

A purported video of the incident showing men and women running away with DAP bags went viral on the social media.

Rajender, SHO, Ateli police station, said, “Around 25 bags have been recovered. Four-five persons have been rounded up. A case has been registered under Section 379 (theft) of the IPC.”

Sources said there was an acute shortage of DAP in Mahendragarh, Rewari, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts. It is the preferred fertiliser for mustard and wheat crops. Mahendragarh has not received any supply for the past several days, the sources said.

Krishan, a distressed farmer, said, “We need the fertiliser to sow mustard. I and my family members start queuing up outside sale counters early in the morning. Despite that, we are not getting any supply.”

Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Mahendragarh, said a total 6,000 MT DAP was required to meet the demand in the district. “We have already distributed 2,500 MT, while the supply of 550 MT will come tomorrow. The issue will be resolved soon,” he said. Former minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav has asked the state to provide DAP to farmers without any delay. “The matter has again exposed the anti-farmer face of the BJP-JJP government. Farmers are being harassed. If they don’t get the fertiliser on time, it will affect the crop yield,” he said.