Ganjam: Farmers Protest over Slow Pace of Paddy Procurement; Block Road, Disrupt Water Supply in Chhatrapur Block

Chhatrapur: Quite upset over slow pace of paddy procurement and uncooperative attitude of millers, the farmers have staged protests demanding lifting of rice from mandis in Chhatrapur block in Ganjam district.

Over hundreds of farmers in Potlampur panchayat have blocked Chhatrapur -Taratarini main road at Potlampur by putting rice bags on Saturday leading to traffic congestion and disruption in vehicular movement.

The farmers alleged that the non-lifting of paddy from mandi has caused unprecedented problems for them.
They have expressed serious concerns that the validity of the token may expire due to unemphatic attitude of the administration.

Of the 400 tokens, 1461 quintals of paddy were purchased in only 37 tokens. Rice is not being procured from the remaining tokens of the farmers.

Farmers in the panchayat complained to the administration that the millers were not cooperating, but to no avail. As a result, the farmers took the matter to the streets and launched agitation by blocking the road and disrupted two water supply projects operating between Chatrapur and Berhampur.

Following the farmers’ hours-long blockage of the road, the commuters were stranded due to traffic jams.
Chhatrapur Tahsildar Prakash Chandra Mishra, IIC Satyaranjan Pradhan and other officials reached the spot and held talks with the agitating farmers. The agitation was called off after the farmers were given assurance for necessary actions for the lifting of paddy. The drinking water supply was normal.